The General's Game
by Count-Hagane
Summary: A new agent of Deep Blue, a shattered past revealed, and the actions of one soldier...are where his fate be sealed PLEASE R&R [Chapter 19 finally up].
1. The General\'s Summoned

_"It is incredible how rezilliant some speices can be, I may have found him several years ago. But making contact with him seems like yesterday…he was curious enough to step into my domain…where our minds connected, there I learned of his planets' natural resources, as well as other things. But what I found most interesting was his skills with the sword, he was a Fencing Champion (not Kendo but the other type of fencing). And that skill with the sword is exactly what I needed. So I took him, away from the world he knew so well, and introduced him to a much larger world he had no idea existed._

_It took a few months and he seemed to put up some resistance to my will, but eventually he caved like a good puppet and with a little help from my other followers. He became one of my most feared weapons, planet after planet he conquered, race after race he dominated, defense after defense…he wiped off the face of these worlds, And all in my name…I can't tell you how flattered that made me feel."_

_"But now I see a new challenge to throw my great warrior, lately my efforts have been turned to conquering a green and blue planet, I've sent a few of my other followers to take over this world for me, but with every world I look to control…There seems to be a defense laid in their path, and of all the asinine things to be thwarted by, they have been beaten again and again by five girls._

_"But now I shall turn my greatest weapon on these girls, there is a bit of what these creatures called humans call irony in this that the world I plucked my warrior from, shall soon be the one he'll help me…Deep Blue…conquer."_

In a dark star-lit void a person in a long black cloak was practicing with a blade that appeared to be a big as he was, and though it looked heavy he seemed to wield it with little or no effort.

_"Train for the master, conquer for the master…destroy all that stands in our path_._"_

This along with other thoughts that went through his mind, _"Hone my skills in his name, let not a man, woman, or child stand in my path_…_wreck all defenses_._"_

_"General Htarw_,_"_ A voice called out to the cloaked figure.

Htarw then stopped and put his blade back in its scabbard (which was strapped to his back).

_"Yes master?"_ Htarw asked mentally in response.

_"I have a mission for you_._"_ The voice told him.

_"Tell me what it is_._"_ Htarw replied.

_"Very well, I need you to conquer another planet for me_._"_ The voice told him.

_"Another test to add to my skill, another conquest to add to my legend, another planet to add in your name_._"_ Htarw said proudly.

_"Yes, a few of my followers are there now, you will meet up with them…and in exchange for you skill and power, they will aid you in any way they can_._"_ The voice told him.

Htarw nodded and said, "And so it begins again, the Cyniclons General Htarw once again sets out to dominate another unsuspecting world, and in the name of Deep Blue…he shall return with another victory to his name."

Just then a set of eyes appeared from behind the hood of the cloak, the left eye was a grey color…looked almost human, but the other eye was an amber color. Both had an sinister glow in them.


	2. The General\'s Arrival

Now the scene opens up at night in the park with the Mew Mew's defeating another infused creature, Zoey's Mini-Mew eating the infuser, and with Zoey really ticked at, whom else, Dren.

"How many times do I have to tell you, you will never be able to defeat us and have the Cyniclons take over Earth."

"My, my kitty cat, you always do have a lot of energy in you no matter if you just had a big battle. Well I am getting bored so I will leave you for now." Dren says as he winks at Zoey then disappears.

Then Zoey has her hand balled into a fist with the ticked off Mark on her forehead and says. "Man that guy really ticks me off."

"But we won the battle we should celebrate." Kikki say in excitement as she jumps up and down around the team.

But then Bridgette yawns then says as she rubs her eyes. "I think it will be better for us to go to bed."

"We do have to get to the café early tomorrow for early work shifts." Corina says as she stretches and Zoey yells at her.

"What are you worried about, you never do any work."

"I have an important job of making sure the tea is at its perfect temperature and flavor."

"In English that means you just sit at a table and drink tea while we serve the food and clean the tables."

"Cut it out you two, we really should be getting to sleep though." Renee says as she also yawns and stretches her arms.

"Ok then, see you guys tomorrow." Zoey says.

Dren returned to find Sardon and Tarb preoccupied with their own thing, Sardon looked up from his laptop and said, "Well, look who finally decided to come back."

"Yeah, what's wrong…the girl's give you the royal spanking again?" Joked Tarb.

"Shut up." Mumbled Dren.

"Or what?" Asked Tarb.

"Or _this_!" Dren replied, pulling out one of his swords.

"Dren, put that away before you really hurt someone." Sardon suggested.

"Oh I won't hurt anyone, just this little thorn in my side right here!" said Dren glaring at Tarb.

"Don't make me hurt you Dren," Sardon said opening his fan, a flicker of electricity appearing on the edge of it, "Please don't make me hurt you."

Dren then turned his blade to Sardon and said, "You want a piece of this _gramps_!"

Both of them looked ready to hack each other apart, but suddenly froze cold when they heard heavy breathing, "Tarb…that's not funny!" Sardon said irritatedly, "Yeah, hearing that reminds me of _him_." Dren added.

Tarb then looked rather confused, "Uh guys…I'm not the one who's doing that."

"Then what…who―?" Dren started to ask as he and Sardon turned around, as soon as they faced Tarb Sardon's eyes narrowed in shock, Dren's face went completely white.

"What?" Tarb asked, annoyed.

"Be-B-Be-Behi-Behind you." Dren managed to stutter out, Tarb looked behind himself to find a black cloaked figure. He had to be at least 6 feet tall if not then 5'10". The heavy breathing noise was coming from him, "Ah Dren…Sardon, it is good to see you again." The figure said proudly.

"And it's good to see you again, General Htarw." Dren said with a great deal of respect.

"Wait, this guy in the black cloak is General Htarw, _the_ General Htarw?" Tarb asked.

The cloaked figure looked down and said, "I'm the only General Htarw I know."

Tarb then started laughing and said, "I'm sorry but, there's no possible way you can be General Htarw, he wouldn't need to hide behind a black cloak, and he wields a zweihander he calls Requiem that would knock you on your ass."

The cloaked figure nodded and asked, "Requiem…does it look like this?"

The cloaked figure then reached into his cloak and pulled out a huge sword, bringing the edge of the blade just a few inches from Tarb's neck. Tarb looked at it nervously and said, "Yeah, exactly like that."

"So…Why are you here?" Dren asked, "Yeah General what's the scoop?" Sardon added.

"You three screwing up, that's what the scoop is!" Htarw told them. "You three have had enough time to take over this planet, and so far you haven't, Deep Blue's given you most of his time, and this…_this_ is what you do with it, UGH, how asinine."

"Well…we've been trying, but we sort of have a…pest problem for say." Sardon told him.

"Well, at least let me look at the terrain, let me know the battlefield of the enemy." Htarw ordered them. Sardon gave the General his laptop and showed him a few places. "Hmmm…your basic city, shouldn't be a bad place to start." Said the General dryly, "Very well, now let me see the main threat that's been holding you back."

"Uhhh…okay, if you think that's wise." Sardon told him, and then skipped to a seven minute long clip montage of the Mew-Mews.

The General looked at it, and for a moment Dren thought he saw the General's death-like gaze soften up and heard the General whisper something.

"Uh, General…did you just say something?" Dren asked.

Htarw's eyes then returned to the familiar hardness that had meant inevitable chaos for a dozen other worlds and said, "No, but I find it sickening that out of all the things I trained you for, you can't get a handle on five girls," But then the General turned his back to them and took a few steps, "but I guess that's why Deep Blue sent me here." He then shot a glance at Tarb and said, "You."

"Yeah, what?" Tarb asked.

"We haven't gotten to know each other real well yet, but you have two seasoned soldiers right beside you that I hope will teach you what I expect of you, do as they instruct you and I think you'll find we'll get along just famously." Htarw told him.

"Okay then, all three of you are dismissed." Said the General.

Dren and Sardon took at least a dozen steps backward still facing him, Tarb turned around and started to walk away when Dren grabbed him by the wrist and whispered, "No…don't turn around just yet, just do as we do and you won't get into dutch with him."

Tarb then turned back around and did the like-wise of the other two.

Htarw then teleported to the roof of a building in the city, "I think I know who these girls got their powers from." He whispered to himself, then went to thinking, "_And if I do…I think it best to just toy with the girls first_."


	3. The Message

The next morning Zoey woke up for school, besides the few accidental cat-naps during class she was okay.

"_Something feels different…out of place somehow, but wha—?_"

Suddenly she felt a hand touch her shoulder, she jumped and turned around. "Whoa Zoey!"

Zoey faced Mark, "Oops, sorry Mark…you surprised me is all." She said rather embarrassed.

"Zoey…" said Mark, "if you're free tonight, I'd like to take you out on a date later tonight."

"Sure…uh, see you later…I guess." Said Zoey.

As school was letting out Dren, Sardon, and General Htarw watched from the roof.

"So what's the game plan?" Dren asked Htarw.

Htarw said, "First rule of combat Dren…know your enemy as you know yourself, learn your enemies go and do, compare them to yourself and when they appear to be at their most vulnerable…_strike_!" He then glared at Dren and said, "I thought one of my soldiers would remember something that simplistic?"

"Oh, of course I remember…I'm just weary of your ways, that's all." Dren said nervously.

"Then remember these, my plans may seem a bit crazy, may make me look like I've gone mad…but there's always a reason behind my madness, a subtle way-point to a goal I look to achieve." Htarw told him, "Here's what I want you to do, tonight I want you to follow her and see where she goes and with whom she travels with…it is with this, that I hope to find chink in there armor. Right now I believe the key to bringing them down may be in their leader."

"Zoey!" Dren said surprised.

"Zoey…that's her name, quite a beautiful name at that…but Dren, with this you've already went against one of my lessons, never learn your enemy's name, it breeds familiarity, and familiarity in return breeds contempt, contempt breeds a flaw, and that flaw will eventually breed failure." Htarw told him, "Is that clear?"

"Yes sir." Dren said with a bit of a growl.

"Now let me ask you, what is her name again?" Htarw asked.

Now Dren had known the General well enough to know that if he said her name again he'd be deep in dutch with General Htarw, so he shrugged and said, "I don't know sir, she's the enemy and that's all I know."

"Good, now let's go…this place is starting to get dull." The General said, and with that all three of them disappeared.

Later that night after Zoey got back from work and prepared for her date with Mark, that's when it hit again…that feeling that something was out of place. "_Oh come off it Zoey…you're about to go on a date with Mark_."

Just then Zoey heard a rustling noise come from outside. "Predasite Alert, Predasite Alert!" Mini-Mew started shouting.

"_Oh no, not now_!" Zoey thought to herself.

"By the window, Predasite Approaching!" Mini-Mew told her.

Zoey looked out the window…silence, nothing but the sound of the wind.

"Zoey dear, there's someone down here to see you." Zoey's mother called.

Zoey went downstairs to see Mark awaiting her, "Ready?" he asked.

Both of them left, all the while Htarw, up-rooted flower in his hand, watched them from the roof of Zoey's house, and with that he disappeared.

The date was a simple walk in the park, nothing too special…Zoey looked around and could've sworn someone was watching her. "Zoey…are you all right?" Mark asked.

"Oh, yeah…it's just, I think someone's watching us." She told him.

Suddenly Zoey saw something move out of the corner of her eye, before she could see what a giant green tentacle shot out of the bushes and struck her and Mark, knocking her to the ground and Mark out cold.

Zoey looked up to see a giant mutated flower, "_Oh, great…just when things were going okay, there had to be a huge mutant flower_!"

"Hello kitty cat, sorry…it's just Tarb's plant Predasites can be so unpredictable at times." Said Dren with a hint of humor in his voice.

Zoey looked at the creature, "_Okay…Mark's out cold, so right now would not be a bad time for me to transform_."

"Mewdamorphoses." Zoey says as her pendent glows and she goes through the costume change. After that she jumps into the air and comes back down to kick the creature but the creature uses one of it's roots and pushes her out of the way.

Then the plant started eminating some sort of gurgling noise, she jumps out of the way just as the plant spits up a giant, red-colored loogey that starts dissolving the side-walk, "_Okay…it's a giant, acid-spitting, mutant flower_." Zoey thought to herself before she said, "I'm going to need back-up. Mini-Mew…go find the others, tell them to come to the park."

Mini-Mew flies off only to return sometime later with the other four, Dren saw this and thought, "_Here's trouble_."

Kikki was able to drive the monster deeper into the ground with her attack, Bridgette quickly soaked the surrounding area with a tidal surge to make sure the creature couldn't move around too much, Corina aimed an arrow shot at the 'stem/neck' of the creature, Renee used her dagger to finish cutting the head off, and Zoey with her Strawberry Bell severed the infuser from the plant. Which Mini-Mew ate before it had a chance to escape.

"So Dren, want to stick around and find out what we're going to do to you?" Zoey asked angrily.

Just then Dren heard Htarw say telepathically, "_Negative Dren, do not engage them solo…just deliver my message to them and then return to base_."

"_You don't have to tell me twice_." He replies back. He then looks at Zoey and says, "Sorry my pet…but will have to deal with this some other time, my orders are to give you this then leave." Dren then pulled a letter out of his shirt and dropped it, then vanished before she could say anything.

"Okay…does anyone find that strange?" Bridgette asked.

"What do you mean?" Corina asked.

"I mean Dren said he had orders to do all this." Bridgette responded.

"Well let's read the note and see what it says." Renee suggested.

Zoey picked up the note, it read:

Dear Mew-Mews,

Just got done watching your fight,

But now it's time for your real plight,

I've learned what I can from you,

Now it's time to see if your skills hold true,

Tomorrow night I want you to go,

To where the last of you defeated Great Crow,

Be there at 7, sharp, don't be late,

Or that place, and an area of several blocks will suffer a most cruel fate.

Sincerely,

You'll just be dying to know

Bridgette looked at the letter and said, "Best show to Elliot and Wesley when go to work tomorrow."

With that the others departed, Zoey returned to her true form just as Mark was waking up, "Zoey…what happened?" he asked, still a bit groggy.

"Some big, plant thing attacked us…it knocked both of us out." Zoey told him, all the while thinking, "_I hope he believes that_."

Meanwhile General Htarw looks at his three recruits and says, "Now the time of my debut has been set into motion, thanks to your help…soon these girls won't know what hit them, and if I know their minds well enough now…which I should, they'll show, and then they'll see what true power looks like."

"Yeah, but you wasted one of my infusers doing it." complained Tarb.

"Yes, but from a defeat I shall snatch victory." Htarw told them.

Oh, and lest I forget, and if you don't believe me, check out a b s o l u t e a n i m e. c o m and m m p u . s m u n c e n s o r e d . c o m:

Zoey -Ichigo

Corina - Minto

Bridget - Retasu

Kikki - Pudding

Renee - Zakuro

Mark - Masaya

Elliot - Ryou

Wesley - Keiichiro

Dren - Kisshu

Sardon- Pai/Pie (whichever way it's spelt)

Tarb-Tart/Taurto (Again, however the hell it's spelt)

Deep Blue-Deep Blue

General Htarw is a character I made for this, but if he _was_ in the magna, his Japanese name would be General Chao.


	4. The Debut and Confrontation

The next day at the café Zoey showed Elliot and Wesley the note, Elliot looked it over and asked, "And Dren was to deliver this to you?"

They all nodded, Elliot looked at the penmanship on the letter and said, "I suggest you be there by the time suggested, because it be horrific if who-ever this is lived through to his threat."

"Okay." Zoey answered.

Wesley then looked at the note and said, "Elliot, I think there's something you're forgetting."

Elliot looked at him and asked, "Yeah…what?"

Wesley then took Elliot into the kitchen area, on one of the counters was a cake with a photo printed on the frosting with seven candles on it, in the picture would appear to be younger versions of Elliot and Wesley, but also in the picture was a third kid, he had a magenta and beige sweater vest on and a black dress shirt under that, this other kid also had grey eyes and maroon colored hair. His smile seemed to reflect some sort of innocence.

Elliot took one look at the cake and said, "I never wanted to see this photo again."

"Elliot…you have to stop trying to forget what happened, it was seven years ago." Wesley told him, there suddenly came a crashing noise from the dining area.

"I'll go check it out." Said Wesley, Elliot looked down at the cake and looked at the face of the third person.

"_I choose not to remember because he was my friend_." Elliot thought to himself. Elliot then blew out the candles, took them off, picked up the cake, and threw it in the trash.

After work the girls agreed to meet at the church at five before six, that way they could be there early and possibly get an early jump on whoever wrote that letter to them.

Zoey was the first to show up, followed by Corina. "Who do you bet is waiting in there?" Corina asked.

"Don't know," Zoey responded, "but I'm not liking the vibe I'm getting off that place right now."

Bridgette showed up next, follow by Kikki and Renee, they all looked at the place, "Well, let's go inside and see what waits." Said Zoey.

Inside was pretty much the same as the last time they'd been here, suddenly they heard the bell chime seven.

"Mewdamorphoses." The girls all shouted as they went through the whole costume change spiel, they waited a bit.

About a few seconds later Dren, Sardon, and Tarb appeared. "Well kitty cat…nice for you to show, your host for this night will be here shortly." Dren told them.

"We thought it was just supposed to him and us, not you jokers too." Renee commented.

"Don't think of us as opponents, babe, just think of us as spectators." Dren told her.

"Yeah, if you five think we're not so tough…then you've been tasting the appetizers for long too long." Tarb said with a laugh.

Suddenly a black cloaked figure appeared behind the three of them, they stepped out of the way of the figure.

"So you're the one who sent us that message?" Zoey asked.

"Yes…I was, little girl." Replied the cloaked figure.

"Well you picked the wrong planet to mess with, '_Mew Mew style, Mew Mew grace, Mew Mew Power in your face!_'." Said Zoey.

The cloaked figure looked at Sardon and Dren and asked, "Is she always like this?"

"Yeah." Replied Sardon.

"Pretty much." Said Dren.

"Well then, I guess I should be a gracious host and introduce myself, I am Htarw, General of the Cyniclon armies." Htarw told them, "Now I'll allow you to ask me one question, before we get what you came for underway."

"What's with the heavy breathing…are you sick or something?" Kikki asked.

Htarw took a few seconds to think the question over, then said, "No…you just have to topple about a thousand cities, and conquer a planet or two to be like me." He then looked at the others and said, "No other questions? Fine…then finally this cloak can come off!"

Htarw then took off the cloak to reveal a suit of armor underneath, Requiem in its scabbard strapped to his back, he quickly unsheathed his blade and said, "Okay now since I'm willing to be a gentleman about this, I'll let you attack first…not like it'll do any good though." Htarw said to them with a chuckle.

Corina was the first to attack with an arrow shot, but then Htarw used the broadside of his blade to deflect it. Corina stood looking dumbfounded, Htarw just laughed and asked, "Is that all you girls have to back you up?"

Kikki tried her 'Tamborine Trench' attack, but Htarw leapt into the air and with a mid-air summersault dodged that too, "I'm not impressed." Htarw hissed at them.

Renee then tried using her daggers special ability, not to slice Htarw with the ribbons but to tie up his left arm so she could keep him from moving. Htarw gave a false look of being worried and said, "This is it? Okay…well then, now it's my turn."

Htarw then gave the ribbons around his left arm a brisk tug, Renee then went flying from her spot towards him, he then brought his arm out and clothes-lined her.

Corina tried to attack again, but once again Htarw used Requiem to deflect the shot.

Bridgette then tried her 'Deep Sea Surge' attack, Htarw saw it coming and said, "Requiem…Crimson Tide!" Just then a red colored version of Bridgette's attack met hers head on from the tip of Htarw's sword, end result his attack forced hers to rebound back at her.

Kikki once again tried her 'Tamborine Trench' attack again, only this time Htarw stook his sword into the ground and brought his leg up to his chest and shouted, "Requiem…Unholy Divide!" Htarw then smashed his heel against the hilt of his sword with unbelieveable force, the force of it forcing her attack to go left and right of the blade's broadside.

Htarw pulled the blade out of the ground and held it to his side and said, "Now it's time for me to end this," he then brought the sword back behind him with both hands and shouted, "Requiem…" he then started bringing it back to his front side and said, "FINAL JUDGEMENT!"

As soon as the swords' tip his the ground, a gale force wind blasted from it…throwing all save for Zoey across the room. Htarw looked at her and said, "Now you're alone, '_out of fashion, out of date, now the general decides your fate!_'."

"Strawberry Bell," Zoey called out, "Full Power!"

She watched as the surge of the attack struck Htarw head on, for a few seconds she thought that might've brought him down, but suddenly she saw the faint make-out of a blade slash through her attack, she stood in horror as Htarw looked into her eyes, and then a pained expression as he gave her an uppercut to her gut.

Zoey fell to her knees, the wind knocked out of her.

"Is this all that stands in my way?" Htarw asked, he looked around him and scoffed and said, "Pitiful."

Htarw started to walk away as Zoey was got up and said, "Hey…I'm not through…through with you…yet."

Htarw looked at her and said, "Yes…you are," he then turned away and said, "When I saw you I knew Elliot had continued the Mew Project, I thought the results would stand a chance against me," he scoffed again and said, "but…now I see I was wrong, you girls never stood a chance against me from the start, you're no fighting force threat against me,"

He then turned and pointed at her and saying, "you and your friends are just a look-pretty, girly colored, fluff squad."

"How do you know Elliot?" Zoey asked angrily.

"You had your chance to ask questions, foolish girl…but, if you wouldn't mind, give this message to Elliot for me?" Htarw asked, then he whispered something into Zoey's right ear and said, "Now repeat it to me so I know you know what to say."

Zoey did as Htarw asked and he said, "Remember that."

He then stood up, re-sheathed Requiem, and said, "Okay boys, lets get out here."

Later Zoey and the others told Elliot and Wesley what had transpired at the church.

"This General Htarw sounds like one tough cookie," Wesley said, "but believe me girls, we won't stop until Elliot find a way to help you defeat him."

"Oh, and Elliot…Htarw gave me a message to give to you." Zoey told him.

"Okay…let's here it." Elliot said unconcerned.

Zoey cleared her throat and grimly said, "I'm back Elly…it's a whole new game for you and I."

Elliot then sat upright and asked, "w-w-w-wh-what did you call me?"

"Elly…does that mean anything to you?" Zoey asked.

He looked at the girls, then at Wesley…then he looked back at them and said, "You girls go home and get some rest, we'll close up for the night."

When the girls departed, Wesley put his hand on Elliot's shoulder and asked, "Are you going to be alright?"

Elliot looked up at him and said, "It can't be him…it just can't, he wouldn't allow that to happen to himself."

"Sleep on it Elliot, see how you feel about it." Wesley told him.

Meanwhile, back at the Cyniclon hideout General took off his helmet (though I won't let you see the face yet), and took from a pouch he had around his neck a small silver frame, in the frame was a faded version of the photo that had been printed on that cake earlier.

"I know you Elliot Grant, you'll try to confront me to see if it really is your old friend." Htarw said, then he thought, "_Yes…but then you'll see I've changed, you'll see the path you, Wesley, and your father should've chosen_."

He then put the picture back into the pouch and then mentally laughed to himself.

Note: When I called him General Chao…I didn't mean those little cuddly creatures from that one game, Chao means 'Great One' in another language.


	5. Under the Big Top

Tarb was walking the halls of the hide-out by himself when he heard the faint sound of music coming from somewhere, he decided to go investigate…as he got closer he recognized the tune, "Who would be playing 'Greensleeves'?" he asked him self.

When he got close to the sound he felt someone grab his should, he turned around to find Sardon had stopped him, "I wouldn't bother the General right now, it would be bad luck for you."

"The General's playing that, but why?" Tarb asked

"He's thinking…he's thinking about his next plan of attack, I learned early on with him, best let the music play and let him think." Sardon told him.

Meanwhile the General was deep in thought, "_This next part of my plan has to revoke Elliot into revealing himself to me…but how?_"

He let out a heavy sigh and said, "Sometimes being a military superstar can give you a headache."

He then decided to a little searching on Earth, maybe that would give him an idea. Of course he'd have to wear his cloak…but he was accustom to wearing it time and time again, he only need take it off in the heat of battle.

While walking the streets, he saw a newsstand, "_Look at the press, maybe then you'll get an idea_." Htarw thought to himself. He picked up a newspaper and looked at it, "Hey buddy…you going to pay for that?" The stand owner asked.

"I'm looking at it, dear fellow…I shall return it to you when I'm done." Htarw said gently.

"Uh pal, you better pay for that or I'll call the cops." Threatened the stand owner.

Htarw then turned to look the man straight in the eyes, "Do you have a family?" Htarw asked.

"A wife and a teenage daughter." The stand owner said.

"You're only telling me a half truth, my dear fellow…I warn you, your daughter suspects…stop seeing her now and maybe your daughter will grow doubtful." Htarw told him.

He then put down the stand owner and continued looking at the paper, the stand owner backed away from him and asked, "H-h-how did you know about that?"

Htarw looked at him and said, "Your eyes."

"My eyes?" asked the man in disbelief

Htarw nodded, "Your eyes are a reflection into who you are and what you've done…sort of like a time machine, you can go back to a certain moment and see what you want."

"So what do your eyes say about you?" the man asked.

"Why don't you look into them and tell me yourself?" Htarw asked.

The man looked directly into Htarw's eyes, then took a few steps back.

"Do you see the person _I _am?" Htarw asked.

"Yes…Dear God Yes!" pleaded the man.

Htarw then looked at the newspaper, turned a few pages and asked, "How much money do you have on you?"

"Here take it, just don't look at me with those eyes again," The man said, tossing Htarw his wallet, the man then whispered "the horror, the horror."

Htarw took at least $60 and left, he had a busy morning ahead of him.

That morning Zoey went to work at the café Wesley handed an envelope to her, she looked inside to find a ticket to a carnival that was going to in town over the weekend. "_Mark must've gotten tickets_." Zoey thought to herself.

"That's not all though, there were six more tickets in that envelope…looks like whoever bought these wanted all of us to come along." Wesley told her.

"_Well Mark must've wanted to meet some of my new friends, it sounds suspicious…but he's probably trying to be nice_." She then thought to herself.

That Saturday Zoey met Mark at the entrance, they both exchanged hellos and went in, Zoey could see the big-top, off to the far right, and straight on ahead was a Ferris Wheel, and too the left of that were a few other rides, the path leading up to those things were lined with concession stands and other carnival games and booths like a dunk-tank, a fortune teller, etc.

Suddenly a clown appeared before them and said, "Hello you two…howdydoo, wouldn't want to miss the big top performance…it's in an hour, you'll feel the whimsy of it's power." The clown said in a sing-song voice that Zoey thought sounded familiar, "Bouquet for the lady?" The clown asked, holding it out for Zoey, she was about to grab it when one of the flowers squirted water at her, the clown let out a playful laugh and ran off, Mark helped Zoey dry off while trying to hold back his own laughter.

Meanwhile the clown watched them both, only his happy expression changed to one of disgust, "_I don't see what she sees in him and not in me?_" The clown thought to himself.

"Dren, you did a good job." Said Htarw, dressed now not only in his black hooded cloak, but a lighter emerald colored one now too.

"Is your plan working out as you hoped it would?" Dren asked.

"Like clockwork Dren…like clockwork, in about an our the big top will be filled to capacity, and when the magician asks for a volunteer…then you run out and choose me from the crowd."

"You mean I have to keep wearing this getup?" Dren asked, sounding annoyed.

Htarw looked at him sharply and said, "It's part of my plan, if you don't like it…tough!" and with that he departed.

Zoey then looked around and saw Wesley and Elliot, she waved to them. Elliot was shaking his right hand, "Clown got him with a joy-buzzer." Wesley told her, Zoey laughed a little.

"Hey Zoey…who are your two friends here?" Mark asked.

"Name's Wesley…and the person next to me here is Elliot, who was just the victim of a joy-buzzer." Wesley introduced.

"Mark…nice to meet both of you." Mark introduced in response. "Hey…haven't I seen you two at that café?" he then asked.

Wesley nodded, "Elliot and I here own it, Zoey's one of the waitresses."

"Okay…see you two later." Said Zoey, pulling Mark behind her.

"Nice kid." Wesley said.

"Yeah, I guess," Elliot added, "but don't you find it at least strange he had the money to buy those tickets?"

"Elliot…what exactly are you implying?" Wesley asked.

"I'm just asking to keep your eyes peeled, I think we're seeing only the surface treatment of a deep-rooted plan." Elliot told him.

Well the next hour went pretty smoothly, Mark tried a few of the carnival games, he was able to win Zoey a stuffed animal that looked like a tabby-cat. At one point on the Ferris Wheel Zoey thought Mark and her were finally going to kiss, but that was foiled when those cat-like ears suddenly popped out and Zoey had to distract Mark until they disappeared again.

Then came what the clown had said would be the big show under the big top, Zoey looked back and saw her the others sitting behind her at least three rows back, they waved hello to her.

When the show started, Zoey saw the clown was right, she saw elephants, horses, even some lions and tigers (in cages of course), there were other clowns, and acrobats, and even a dare-devil.

The ring-master took the stage and the show started with the clowns first, of course. Then the ring-master took the stage again and tamed a few of the lions and tiger, made them jump through hoops and stuff. Then came the dare-devil, who attempted to shove several swords down his throat then remove them without hurting himself.

The last act was a magician, he did the pretty standard stuff like made doves appear out of thin air and stuff like that, then for his final performance he needed a volunteer…he asked one of the clowns to go out and find a volunteer from the audience, sure enough. He chose Htarw, Zoey saw this and wondered what he was doing here, then suddenly it was if a light of realization had dawned on her.

The final performance was to be an escape trick, Htarw was put inside a wooden box, the magician explained that his volunteer had 15 seconds to escape from the box before it blew up.

Eventually the box exploded and released a bunch of confetti and popery, the spotlights zeroed in at the top of the bleachers where Htarw stood. Htarw suddenly teleported down to the magician and said, "That was an impressive trick, want to see one of mine?" Htarw asked.

He then grabbed the microphone from the magician, turned to the audience and asked, "What about it folks, since I played a part in the magician's act…wouldn't you say it fair that he participated in one of mine?"

The crowd applauded him, "I'll take that as a _yes_." Htarw said, "Could I have one of the clowns bring me out a chair and a cage for this trick?"

One of the clowns brought out a chair, Htarw asked the magician to sit down. Three more of them pushed out a cage, Htarw then asked the magician if he was comfortable, the magician nodded.

Htarw then threw the Emerald cloak he'd been wearing over the magician and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen…what I look to do tonight will be a one-time performance, seen here and only here, to your eyes alone. In this trick I will attempt to force a ball of light from our dear magician's body through the cloak I was just wearing, and into my right hand, of course our dear magician volunteer will be in a deep sleep once this ball of light is removed (_Well Almost_)…then I will put the ball of light into the cage provided for me and cover it with a tarp, if this trick works (_As it should_) I will be able to bring a creature from the spiritual realm, over to ours."

People watched as Htarw went into deep concentration, and slowly but surely, the ball slowly made its way through the cloak to his hand. Zoey didn't need to stick around to see where this trick was going, she and the other four girls quickly exited the big-top.

Meanwhile Htarw continued his trick and put the ball of light in the cage, a huge tarp then dropped down and covered the entire cage. Htarw smashed his fisted against it three times and suddenly the tarp dropped, and in place of the ball of light was a raven/human like creature in a tuxedo and dress pants, but it had a raven's head. The audience applauded Htarw's little trick like it was part of the show, but unfortunately along with the appearance of the creature, was the disappearance of the cage. Htarw then gave his new creation a sly look and said, "I think they're demanding an encore…what do you say we give it to them?"

The creature nodded and pulled a magician's wand out of it's vest, it then gave it a wave and just like that a bunch of vines popped out and started ensnaring the audience.

The clown that had chosen Htarw from the audience (Which in case you haven't guessed by now is Dren in disguise) Pulled out two more chairs and said, both he and Htarw sat down, "Now this is what I call a show." Htarw said, hearing the screams of the audiences' disbelief. "I couldn't say better myself." Dren replied.

Htarw then pulled a paper bag of something and asked Dren, "Want some kettle corn?"

"Don't mind if I do." Dren replied reaching into the bag and pulling out a handful.

"I think you've had enough fun for one night, General!" Shouted a voice from behind them.

Htarw looked back to see all five Mew Mews standing behind them, Htarw got up from his seat and said, "Not you five again…I thought from our first encounter you might've had enough."

"We've had enough of _you_…truth is you haven't had enough of us." Zoey told him.

"Blah, blah, blah…that's all I hear from your mouth, you can talk the talk foolish girl," he then unsheathed Requiem and said, "but let us see if you can walk the walk."

Zoey then looked back at her friends and said, "Corina, Bridgette…you deal with the predasite, me and the others will tangle with Htarw."

"Ah yes, split your forces into two factions to tackle both threats…I've seen this tactic 74 times, and it bestowed upon me wisdom to do this." Htarw then looked at the creature and said, "Hey…you, there's something here I need you to take care of."

The creature turned and saw the girls, it immediately gave another wave of its wand and suddenly a bunch of fire-balls appeared and started shooting at the girls. The girls did their best to dodge them, meanwhile Htarw started singing, "_Feelin__' HOT, HOT, HOT!_"

"_Okay…maybe it's best to take care of the Predasite first then worry about the General._" Zoey thought to herself, she then looked back at her friends and said, "Okay new battle plan, turn your attacks onto the monster."

"What about Htarw?" Corina asked.

"We'll worry about him once this guy is taken care of." Said Zoey, Bridgette, Corina, Kikki used there attacks to pin the creature down, but just as Zoey and Renee were about to capitalize on it the creature disappeared. Then reappeared in front of Renee and threw her towards the entrance to the tent, Htarw looked at the creature and said, "Finish them…then join us outside, I think this city needs to see your great talent."

Htarw then started heading towards the exit, Requiem leaving a line in the ground as he dragged it along, as soon as he got near the entrance two people stepped into view of him, "Htarw…I'll take it." Said the voice of Elliot. Htarw had a pleased look in his eyes and said, "Elliot…Wesley, good to see you both again."

Meanwhile the girls were having some problems battling Htarw's new Predasite, it seemed to keep them on the defensive with vine-whipping and fire-ball throwing attacks.

"It has been a long time Htarw," Elliot said gently, "or should I say, _Walter_?"

Htarw flinched at the mention of that name, "That name is my past, and my past is like George Harrison, its dead." Htarw hissed at him.

"All these years we thought you were dead Walter, and now this…is that really you under there?" Asked Wesley.

Renee was starting to come through when she heard Htarw, Elliot, and Wesley talking.

"To an extent…I'm far more than I once was to you two," He then stared at them with that Amber eye of his and said, "you shouldn't have gotten in my path."

Suddenly Htarw looked behind him and saw his Predasite had been defeated.

"But why Walter…why join this side?" Elliot asked.

"Because they're the ones who helped me become a thing of wonder, they helped me achieve a level of fame and power I never knew was possible." Htarw told them.

"But back then you seemed so happy to be with us, you were happy to help out anyway you could?" Asked Elliot.

"I was, I was happy to have known and helped you two in that short amount of time…but that was then Elly, I'm one of the Cyniclon now, and I _like_ what I am," He then seemed to have a look of pleasure in his eyes and said, "you can't imagine how good this feels."

"So what…are you going to kill us now, old friend?" asked Elliot.

Htarw/'Walter' brought Requiem up between them and said, "It is certainly within my power to do so, but you're not a threat to me Elliot…and neither are you Wesley, be smart, get out of my way and never look to confront me again."

"Doesn't look like you're giving us much of a choice?" said Wesley.

"I wouldn't attack them if I were you Htarw!" shouted Zoey.

Htarw snickered and said, "Fools, I _lavish_ the thought…but I'm giving them a pass…for now."

With all that done the vines that entangled the audience were gone, as Zoey and Mark left the carnival grounds Mark said, "Hey Zoey…I had a good time, the magic act that guy pulled was a little screwy though."

"Yeah, screwy." said Zoey with weak laughter.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later." said Mark, "See you." Zoey said and with that they went their separate ways.

Renee caught up with Elliot and Wesley, "What do you want?" Elliot asked.

"Don't play dumb with me Elliot, I heard you and Htarw talking…or should I say you and _Walter_?" Renee asked.

Elliot hung his head, Wesley looked at him and said, "I think it's time they knew."

"If you say so," Elliot said, he then looked back at Renee and said, "When you and the other girls arrive at the café tomorrow for work, I'll explain everything to you then…I guess I'll have to tell this story sooner or later."


	6. Explanations and Beliefs

The next day when the girls arrived for work Elliot and Wesley met them, "So what's the story behind you and Htarw?" Renee asked.

Elliot looked down at the ground first, then back up at them and said, "First, I want you to understand that even though I tell you this story, the person you face right now is a shadow of the person I once knew, a hollow shell…whatever bond of friendship we had has been shattered over the last seven years."

"So…come on Elliot, what's the scoop?" Corina asked.

"Girls, give him time," Wesley told them, he then looked at Elliot who seemed to be a little discouraged and said, "this is an emotional scar for him that hasn't entirely healed, opening it up for him is going to be easier said than done for him."

"No Wesley…if I don't tell them now, then they'll have no idea who they're up against here." Elliot told Wesley.

Elliot then took a deep breath and said, "Okay…first thing's first, his name wasn't Htarw—I mean it's not the one he introduced himself to me with, his name, his _human_ name…was Walter Jon Nixon, he was a middle class kid, but he had a lot of rich relatives so he had one impressive bank account I'll give him that."

"Elliot here and Walter used to be best friends, the truth was who couldn't be around Walter and not learn to like him, heck even Elliot's father liked him." Wesley told them.

"In a few short months we became very close friends, heck…a few people would've probably mistook us for brothers, but it wasn't to last." Elliot told them.

Meanwhile Htarw met with Deep Blue, "_Master, I now know that my old 'friend' Elliot Grant lives…this makes this, by far, the most challenging battlefield I've ever fought upon_." Htarw said mentally to Deep Blue.

"_True General, but remember that Elliot is your past…that he is the one who became the success while you lived in his shadow_." Deep Blue told him.

"_I remember quite well…in fact, **that** is the one thing of my past that I've chosen never to forget, the one fact remains, that one little fact that made me who I am today, and that one little fact is that Elliot Grant and his father **ruined my life**!_" Htarw told both Deep Blue and himself.

"Walt found out about the Mew Project didn't he?" Bridgette asked. Elliot nodded.

"Well I wouldn't say found out as much as stumbled upon, he'd forgotten his jacket at my place when he found the lab, and learned of what my father was doing…it was then and there that my father clued him in on the project and told him that if he wanted to help on it, he could…a choice seven years later I now look upon as a mistake." Elliot told them.

"_Elliot pretended to be your friend so he could use you to help his father with his work, but soon you realized that if the Grant family succeeded in this experiment, so the night before you decided to do something about it._" said Deep Blue.

"_Yes…the only way to stop him from getting credit off my aiding him was through sabotage_." Htarw admitted.

"We were just about to reach a break-through when it happened; we'd almost had our first successful proto-type when the entire system crashed, destroying the proto-type and setting my father back four years." Elliot told them. "And truth was I'd never suspected Walter of doing it, _never_…had he just seemed so innocent, too innocent to do such a thing."

"Did your father ever suspect Walter of sabotaging the project proto-type?" Zoey asked.

"No…no he didn't, to him, he felt that he'd just made a miscalculation somewhere in his formula…it wasn't until before he died that he made that realization that Walter had betrayed him, that he had betrayed both of us…but somewhere in my mind I'd always known before that." Elliot told them.

"It was imperative then that Elliot and I keep a close eye on Walter, to make sure nothing would go wrong again…then about two weeks before he disappeared he started telling us he was hearing voices, voices inside his head." Wesley told the girls.

"_When you first made contact with me Htarw, you were afraid._" Deep Blue mentioned.

"_Yes master, I didn't know what to believe what was going on, or didn't know what was happening to me…then you appeared in my dream and showed me the truth, the true nature of humans and instructed me on what to do next_." Htarw explained.

"Walter was pretty much the mind behind the Mew Mews, I mean it was our research, but he designed most of the attacks and weaponry, Corina, Renee, your weapons are based on the designs of Walter Jon Nixon." Elliot told them, "Kikki, your 'Tamborine Trench' attack was invented by him as well. In a way he created your very fighting styles and techniques, as well as various counters…just in-case your powers ever fell into the wrong hands like the Cyniclon."

"But I guess he should've made a counter for himself in-case he ever fell into the wrong hands." Wesley added.

Elliot then took out a small wooden box, inside was a photo of a younger Elliot and Wesley, then the girls saw the third person in the photo, "That's him isn't it?" Bridgette asked.

"This was taken seven years ago, four days prior to his disappearance." Elliot told them.

"Well what happened…with the voices, I mean?" Renee asked.

"He said they were getting closer, louder to him…they kept saying something about 'making contact with the Prodigy'. Little did we realize who the Prodigy would soon be." Wesley told them.

"_You were our shining bit of hope in the universe Htarw, our Prodigy of Destiny…when you finally made contact with us we learned of your planets' resources and other things_." Deep Blue told Htarw.

"_Yes now that I look back at it, you and the others…Sardon, Dren, and the other one…what's-his-face_." Htarw told him.

"_You mean Tarb, we raised you and respected you in a way that no human, no person in this galaxy could care for you_." Deep Blue told him.

"_Yes…and now that I look upon human nature, I now see…I now see_," Htarw thought to himself then he whispered, "That Elliot and Wesley never cared about me, nobody…not even my human family cared about me, humans our heartless creatures that only care about themselves, you…Deep Blue, you and the Cyniclon were the only ones who cared about me, raised me to my full potential, to be all that I could be."

"_Yes Htarw, cast away your past, Walter is no more…a mere phantom of a shattered boys' past, you are the testament to my will, and the zenith of my perfection…in every aspect you are a part of me, as intercantly bound as any agent of mine, I am very pleased with what you've done in your past conquests—and as long as you carry out my work, I'll continue to remain pleased. But now I command you to lay my enemies to waste, pick up the Zweihander which is your right, hold up the blade which is your destiny and tell me my Prodigy what it is you've been sent here to do_."

Htarw did not hesitate in removing Requiem from it's scabbard and holding it up in the air said, "I have been sent to guide the Cyniclon armies in the divine conquest of Earth!"

"_Yes_." Deep Blue said with a hint of dark joy in his voice.

"I have been sent to smash it's defenses with the Infusers and Predasite possibilities I see before my eyes!" Htarw added.

"_Yes_." Deep Blue said again.

"To uphold the glory my name has brought you, and the terror it sets into those hearts that know me not!" Htarw added.

"_Yes, my Prodigy of Destiny, yes_!" Deep Blue said anxiously.

"To destroy all those that stand in our path, to wipe all defenses that oppose us from the face of the planet!"

"_Yes, my Prodigy…preach to me, tell me your sermon, tell this world your sermon_!" Deep Blue shouted at him.

Htarw then looked up at his sword, a dark aurora incased it and him, "FROM THIS DAY FORTH, I SET TO BREAK ALL DEFENSES…AND FROM THIS MOMENT ON I SHALL NOT BE STOPPED UNTIL ANYONE WHO STANDS IN MY WAY ARE NEVER MORE!" Htarw cried out in a clear voice.

"_YES!_" cried Deep Blue in response, wickedly laughing to himself.

That night when the girls departed from the café they all looked at each other, they now knew who they really faced, "Well…I hate to say it girls, but we have one hell of a battle on our hands." Renee told them.

"Yeah, but we've taken on some pretty tough stuff so far." Pointed out Kikki.

"Didn't you hear what Elliot and Wesley told us, this guy made our weapons, our attacks…and he knows where to find the flaws in them." Corina pointed out.

"He made some of the weapons and attacks, plus Elliot and Wesley said they wouldn't stop until they found a way to help us defeat him." Zoey told them.

Suddenly Elliot appeared outside and said, "Get going…your going to have to be here for early shifts tomorrow."

Wesley then came out just as the girls departed.

"Wesley, get a pot of coffee and some late night suppers going, it's going to be a long night for you and me." Elliot told him.


	7. Reaching Out, Behind the Helmet

The girls arrived at the café the next day to find Elliot and Wesley fast asleep, in Wesley's hand was a note, it read:

Dear Corina and Renee,

Got some gizmos ready for you down in the lab, they should give you the edge against Htarw the next time you face him.

They're down in the lab.

Love,

Wesley

P.S. Elliot says get to work.

"Well let's go down and see what they made us." Corina told Renee as they headed down to the lab, when they came back up they were carrying to small metallic like devices.

"What do you suppose you do with them?" Kikki asked.

Elliot then yawned and woke up, seeing Corina and Renee had found their gifts he said, "You attach them to your weapons, they'll amplify your attack power output by 33 percent, we're still working on the other three, Zoey…Bridgette, don't be surprised if you two get yours last, we're still working out some of the kinks."

"Thanks Elliot." Said Corina.

"Yeah…thanks." Added Renee.

With another yawn Elliot said, "Don't mention it, just be careful with those okay."

Meanwhile Htarw had returned to training with Requiem, "_I know that Elliot and Wes will have found some way of defeating me now, but no matter…I'll still way waste to the girls, and tonight…if they have found a way to become stronger, as I've witnessed other civilizations do a countless number of times…I'll just give a bit more than I did our first meeting and show them that their new little tool is more than a crutch_." He thought to himself.

Sardon was watching Htarw and shook his head, "_I haven't seen him train like that since the Wars on Azerath, a real challenge must be ahead of him…and he knows it somehow_."

Htarw then saw Sardon and stopped training, "You want something?" Htarw asked.

"Uh no, just watching…but I was wondering." Sardon told him.

"Wondering? Wondering what?" Htarw asked.

"I haven't seen you train this strenuously since the Wars of Azerath, surely these girls can't be that tough already?" Sardon asked.

Htarw lifted his sword to continue and said, "Never believe that…every new day, every new conflict, brings new challenges. And when you face those challenges head on, you have to ask yourself… 'Are you strong enough?'."

"Oh come on, General…you can't be saying you're vulnerable." Sardon said, trying to encourage Htarw.

"Sardon, there are many planets out there…and I've broken at least a dozen of them and won, but sometimes I do ask myself how long will it last." Htarw told him.

Then a memory came to Htarw, a burning temple around him, an old man in a white robe crawling away from him. Htarw brings down his right foot to stop the old man's feeble escape. "Oh what's wrong…you're people our gone, the city in ruins. But you still have faith in the deity and your caste…how sweet."

The old man looks up at Htarw and said, "Your master's side shall be your downfall, you Merchant of Worlds!"

"Ha, your words are meaningless for as you can see, when I am at command, I can not be defeated." Htarw hissed.

"Oh you think so, but I have seen it…on the 13th planet you Walter Jon Nixon will meet your equal, and even though his true form is hidden from him, you will see him as that, when this 'Champion Knight' appears…you will know your time is nigh and your days of combat are numbered!"

Htarw then brought up his blade, only it wasn't Requiem…but a different sword and in a thrall of rage, brought it up and down on the old man about 20 times before re-sheathing it and saying, "Still your tongue…you old fool."

Htarw then snapped back to reality, Sardon waving his hand in front of Htarw's face going, "Hey…anyone in there?"

"Please leave me to my training Sardon." Said Htarw coldly.

Sardon backed away from him, and Htarw returned to his sword practice.

Well life went on pretty much the same way it did until the café closed, when the girls left to go home they were confronted by Dren again.

"What do you want?" Zoey asked, poised for attack.

"Oh nothing much kitten," Dren said happily, "just thought you'd want to know the General's waiting for you at the park, better get there in the next 20 minutes or he said and I quote, 'He might get _Lumberjack_ Happy with the trees.' Unquote."

The girls went through the whole costume change spiel and raced to the park to face Htarw, when they found him he looked at them and said, "No doubt Elliot told you his side of the story."

"Yeah, Htarw…or should we say _Walter_?" Renee asked.

"That name means nothing to me now, Walter is no more—you hear me!" Htarw said angrily, drawing out Requiem.

"Come on Walter, the way Elliot spoke about you, it made you sound like you were stronger than this." Mentioned Bridgette.

"Yeah, come on Walt—fight the darkness—break the Cyniclon's influence!" Kikki added.

Htarw shook his head, "No, it's too late for me—no, no, _NO_!" He then charged at them and made a violent swing with Requiem, the Mew Mews dodged the main swipe, but not the blast of wind that followed it which knocked them to the ground, it was so strong that even Dren, Sardon, and Tarb (who'd all just arrived to watch the fight) had to brace themselves it was so powerful.

The girls got up and looked at Htarw, "Please Walter…you have to try and fight it!" Zoey told him, trying to be passionate about it.

Htarw then lowered Requiem a bit, Zoey thought maybe she'd gotten through, but then Htarw cried out, "Requiem…FINAL JUDGEMENT!"

The blast of wind form Requiem knocked them to the ground again, "Face it girls, you're just a bunch of one-trick ponies…and that makes way for this: '_Out of fashion, out of date, now the General decides your fate_!'."

"Really, '_Out of DATE_' huh?" Corina asked him, she then looked at Renee and said, "Renee…I think it's time we pulled out our secret weapon, don't you think?"

Renee nodded, they immediately took out the devices Elliot and Wesley had given them and attached them to their weapons, and Htarw saw this and asked, "What are those?"

"Oh, just a little gift from your friends Elliot and Wesley." Corina told him.

"Elliot…cool, calm, and predictable Elliot. I saw something like this coming, so bring it on girls…give me your best shot." Htarw told them.

"Oh believe me we will." Corina told him, she tried her arrow attack again, he was about to deflect it, but she could see in his eyes that he was surprised. Renee then attacked; suddenly there came a heavy clunk. She looked, they all looked…Htarw's helmet had been knocked off, now they saw his face, the face that had meant so much destruction for so many worlds.

Truth was he hadn't changed very much, he still had the maroon colored hair, but they saw his eyes looking at them, that amber eye scanning them over, but some changes were his ears, they were pointed (Not 'Cyniclon' pointed…but more like 'Lord of the Rings' Elves pointed) and he had a Anakin 'STAR WARS: EPISODE II' Pony-tail.

"Now do you see why I can't go back?" He asked them.

"Just because you look a little different? No, we can't." Zoey answered.

"I _am_ different, Deep Blue's design is burned into my genetic code, I _am_ his messenger, his will…I cannot break his control over me, for in a way…I _am_ Deep Blue." Htarw told them.

"That's not true Walter!" Renee yelled at him.

"How can't it be, you think anyone will accept me for what I've become? Looking back on world history, the answer is simple…N-O, _NO_, they would not. I bet even my own parents…if they're still alive, would not accept me…its human nature!" Htarw protested.

"I think you're taking this a bit too out of context Htarw…I think if your parents saw you, they'd probably still love you." Zoey told him.

"Oh and how would you know, you all hide your secret from the world…from those who love you, and probably still would if you showed them…so who are you to talk!" Htarw argued, leaning against Requiem now.

Zoey and the others looked for something to say, but then they realized he'd cornered them.

"I see I've left an impression on you emotionally, now…I'll leave by making another impression on you _physically_!" Htarw finished, he then teleported down and gave Zoey a punch to the gut like last time. Htarw then looked at the rest of the girls and gave his blade another massive swing, all of them were blown over by the blast, Htarw then noticed Renee was getting back up; he walked slowly over to her. Renee looked up at him and under her breath said, "Don't do this."

Htarw looked at her for a moment, "Please don't do this…please don't sell your soul to them like this."

Htarw then put a way Requiem, "I'm sorry…but Walter sold his soul a long time ago." He told her grimly, just before giving her a Roundhouse Kick to the head.

"RENEE!" Zoey cried out as she watched.

Renee hit the ground at a funny angle, but then rolled on the ground until she was lying on her left side. Then the General along with his three companions disappeared, Zoey made her way towards Renee and gave her shoulder a nudge, "_Please don't be dead…please don't let it end like this_." Zoey thought to herself.

Renee then opened her left eye a bit, "Zoey?" she asked weakly.

"Renee…you're all right!" Zoey said happily and she and the others were gaining their bearings again.

"Zoey," Renee said again, Zoey leaned in closer so she could hear, "he had his chance to kill me, but he didn't…that kick had the force to snap my neck, but he didn't, maybe we're right…maybe there is some humanity still left in him." Renee told her.

With that they picked themselves up, dusted themselves off and headed home.


	8. Htarw Remembers, a Request Made

"_I was made by the Cyniclon to be the ultimate weapon, though I was human in nature when they found me, they trained me and took care of me as if I were one of their own, Deep Blue saw personally to my own physical development, he saw that I only got the best training…long since then I—General Htarw—have been merciless in my execution of other races, and all in the name of Deep Blue. I truly was part of them, maybe it just took father time awhile to correct his error in making me a human._

"_For it was several years ago I made contact with Deep Blue, several years ago when he showed me the darker sides of humanity and told me that other races were like this, some call me a murderer…destroying other peoples lives so another race can live and plunder their resources, but to myself, I see myself as an missionary, and missionary's don't murder, I see it more as Aggressive Negotiations_.

"_But now upon this new battle-field I am somewhat conflicted, for my knowledge is somewhat…less than it would've been had I returned here sooner, I feel now that I must try to understand these girls even better, I think they work at a place called the Café Mew—call it a dumb hunch. But me as I am, cannot be seen walking in there as I am._

"_It is for there I shall make a request of Deep Blue to loan me a certain amulet that'll allow me to walk side by side of the humans_."

"_Deep Blue…master_." Called out Htarw mentally.

"_Yes, General?_" Responded Deep Blue.

"_I have a request to make of you_." Htarw explained.

"_What is this request?_" asked Deep Blue.

"_I wish to request an item, the Dark Assailant Gem_." Htarw told Deep Blue.

"_A disguise amulet? Why would you want a disguise amulet? Are you having second thoughts about what you're doing here?_" Deep Blue asked, he didn't sound at all pleased with Htarw's request.

"_No master…no second thoughts, it's just—this world has changed greatly since I've been gone, if I am to understand it again…I must be able to interact directly with it without forcing people to run off by my appearance_." Htarw explained.

"_I see…and what are you going to do if I give you such a gift?_" Asked Deep Blue.

"_I shall use it to spy on the Mew Mews_." Responded Htarw.

"_Really…and how do you suppose you'll be able to when you don't know anything about where they live or work._" Deep Blue pointed out to him.

Htarw nodded and answered, "_I may not know where they live…but I **may** know where they work, just call it a dumb hunch_."

"_Very well, I give you the Dark Assailant Gem…to use as you see fit_." Deep Blue told him.

"_Thank you master, I promise you…you won't regret this decision_." Htarw told him.

When Htarw's mental consciousness left Deep Blue thought to himself, "_Htarw, I hope whatever you do…I hope you don't use that amulet and then get yourself accidentally emotionally attached to anyone…because I'm not looking forward to a repeat of Azerath all over again_."

Htarw looked at the black gem on it's gold chain and smiled, "Now the real fun begins." He whispered to himself, he slipped it around his neck, there was a great flash of light, and then only the shadowy outline of something else.


	9. Enter the Warren

General Htarw had summoned his three companions, he'd said it was a matter of importance…though he was splotchy on the details for such a meeting.

"Why do you think he wanted us to be here?" Asked Dren.

"Beats me, all I know is this better be good." Sardon answered.

"Oh trust me you lot, it's as good as it gets." Answered a voice behind them.

All three of them turned around to see a person with dark brown (almost black) hair and grey eyes standing behind them, he wore a black T-shirt and black jeans, but on the back of the shirt was a picture of a fire-breathing dragon (western, not eastern variety) with the words _Allumer__ mon feu_ printed underneath it.

"What the—?" Sardon started asking himself, Dren took no time in pulling out his two swords and crossing them together, forming sort of like a sword scissors by the person's neck.

"I don't know how you found us human, but I sure as sugar know how you're leaving." Dren told him.

The person looked into Dren's eyes, and smirked, "I wouldn't do that if I were you…Dren." the person told Dren.

"How do you know my name?" Dren asked.

The person then reached into the neck of his shirt and pulled out a black crystal, Sardon looked at it for a second and said, "Dren wait…don't kill him."

"Why, I've my finger on the trigger…all I have to do is squeeze."

"Oh really?" the person asked, removing the necklace from around his neck, Dren watched in amazement as this person now transformed into General Htarw.

Dren looked horrified as he stared into Htarw's cold eyes.

"Come on Dren…you have you finger on the trigger, all you have to do is squeeze. So come on Dren, do it all ready and pull the trigger…cut me down, if you have the nerve?" The General asked of him, he could see the blades now trembling in Dren's hands. Htarw then pushed the blades away from his neck and said, "That's what I thought." Dren fell to both knees, head hung low, and sobbing.

"The Dark Assailant Gem…I should've—_we_ should've known." Sardon apologized.

"Yes, you should've…but now that you do, maybe I should reveal the rest of my plan." Htarw said, then he looked down at Dren and while cracking his knuckles with his thumb, "Get up…or I'll _really_ give you something to cry about." He hissed.

"Y-y-ye-yes sir." Dren said nervously, then he stood up and listened.

"It has come to my attention that though we're trying to conquer this world…we don't know much about the people on it, my idea is to blend in with them…see what I can learn." Htarw told them.

"I hope you know what you're doing Htarw." Said Sardon.

"I do…oh, and don't call me that…call me…" Htarw went into deep thought thinking of a name, "Warren, yeah…that'll do, Warren."

Meanwhile, it was business as usual at the café, then Zoey saw someone enter…the person looked around, picked up a menu, and started scanning it.

Zoey approached the person and said, "Uh…hi."

"Hello," the person said in a calm, smooth tone of voice.

"Uh-huh…can I get you anything?" Zoey asked, the person then put down the menu and asked, "Are you new here?"

"WHA—WHAT?" Zoey asked surprised, the person leaned closer to the table and said, "I asked are you new here? You seem nervous."

"Oh no, I'm just thinking of something right now…that's all." Zoey told him, the person nodded and said, "That's perfectly understandable, I'll just have a cup of tea and then be on my way…but not without paying of course."

When the order got out to him he took a sip and said, "That's some good tea…I think I may come back here tomorrow and try something else the next time around." The stranger then laid a five dollar bill on the table and said, "Thanks for the tea."

And as good as his word he was back the next day, this time along with the tea he ordered a small salad to go with it, this time Renee delivered his order, he looked at it and said, "Looks good.", now not to say he wolfed it down, but he did managed to finish it in 7 minutes which after scanned the room, he then left a ten dollar bill and said, "Tell the chef the salad was quite good would you…" he then looked at Renee's name tag and said, "Renee—hmm, Renee…that's a beautiful name." and with that he departed.

The third day though, he ordered just tea again…only after he was done he walked up to Elliot and Wesley and said, "Hello gentlemen,"

"Hello." Wesley said politely.

The person then introduced himself, "My name is Warren…Warren Jackson, and I feel I must ask if you have any job openings available."

"Well Mr. Jackson…it was brave and noble of you to ask, but we really don't need anymore help at the present time." Elliot told him.

"Yes very well, but then let me make something clear to you…a person enters this café you have so graciously opened and think, 'hey, now this seems like a nice little place to get something to eat.', yes, quite the normal response…but then there's a person with _my_ type of thinking that pays attention to closer details looks at the ratios, seven people work here…two guys and five girls."

"Your point _being_?" Asked Elliot.

"I'm getting to it…now a normal person would look at this as just your standard work force, but again I mention I'm not a normal person…and not being a normal person I'd believe something _else_ happens when this place closes for the day." Warren told them, when he said 'I'd believe something _else_ happens when this place closes for the day', he said it in a sly tone of voice.

"So what." Elliot said calmly, Wesley though had been paying a bit more attention and said, "What ever you think is going on behind the seems here, it's not."

"What'd you mean Wes…he's talking none-sense." Elliot protested, Wesley shook his head, "No he's not Elliot…re-think what he just said and I think you'll find a disturbing detail."

Elliot thought about it for a bit then looked at Warren and said, "Okay, now that's just sick."

"If you think that's twisted, wait…my explanation to why you should give me a job here, you see if I think this, just think what the local authorities will think." Warren told them.

"Okay pal, there's a thin line between 'asking for a job' and 'blackmailing for a job'…and I'm telling you, you're crossing it." Elliot told him.

Warren put up his hands in an innocent defense and said, "Now-now, gentlemen I'm not black-mailing you…I'm offering you a business deal between you two and I, and here it is…you two give me a job here, it can be anything from serving food to washing dishes to cooking…I really don't mind as long as I get paid, and I'll keep the cops with a search warrant on the back burner. So what's it going to be? Anyone with at least half the mind would see the obvious choice."

Elliot and Wesley huddled together, "Wesley…we can't give him a job, what if he finds out about the girls?" Asked Elliot.

"You place a good point, but if you think that's bad…then think about the inquiry we'll go under if he lives through on his threat and the cops search this place and find the lab." Wesley pointed out.

Elliot looked as if he was weighing to two scenarios carefully, "You're right Wes…that's worse."

They turned around to Warren, "So gentlemen…do we have a deal?" said Warren, holding out his hand.

Wesley reached out and shook it, "Excellent…I knew you two would choose the right path." Warren said cheerfully.

Bridgette came with some of the dishes that needed cleaning when she heard them talking.

"Yeah, but just remember this means we have a social contract. We hold up our end of the deal." Elliot told him.

"And I uphold mine, I shall arrive for work at 9 tomorrow morning to prepare the café for business." Warren said, "until then…good day."

"_So that guys going to work here?_" Bridgette asked herself.

Elliot then saw Bridgette and said, "Don't you have some tables to serve?" and with that she took off.

Meanwhile Warren walked the streets, "_That was fairly simple…now I just play along and wait_." Warren (or you've may've guessed by now) thought to himself.


	10. The One Man Cleaning Force

The next morning Warren showed up for work, wearing a dress shirt, a tie, a pair of khakis, and dress shoes. "Hey, I'm here…I hope this isn't a bit much?" He asked.

"No, it's not too much…here; I'll show you your first job." Elliot told him, bringing him into the kitchen area. "Your first job will be washing dishes…sound simple enough?" Elliot asked him.

Warren looked at the pile of dishes already there and looked at his clothes, then looked at Elliot and said, "I guess I shouldn't have dressed so nice."

"Yeah…I guess." Elliot told him, "Well I'll leave you to your work."

It was about 20 minutes later that Elliot saw Warren having a cup of coffee; he walked over and asked, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Having a cup of coffee, I brought the mug from home; you can take it out of my paycheck—." Warren told him, Elliot cut him off and said, "What about the dishes?" Warren looked at him and said, "Already finished boss-man."

Elliot looked at him and said, "You couldn't have finished that quickly."

"Check for yourself boss-man." Warren told him, Elliot walked back into the kitchen then came back out twelve minutes later looking rather surprised, "Elliot…are you okay?" Wesley asked.

"They were spot-less Wes, _spot-less_." Elliot told him.

"Well…if this flaky pseudo-drama is quite finished I'll be waiting for more dishes to come back to me." Warren told them, Elliot and Wesley looked at him as he stepped through the double-doors.

When the place really opened for business and the girls arrived, Warren really learned what work he had ahead of himself, "_Come on Htarw…every reconnaissance mission has its ugly parts_." Warren thought to himself.

Elliot was rather surprised with Warren's productivity, it seemed that for every three dirty dishes or glasses that came in to him, five clean ones were ready to use…and Elliot still couldn't figure out how he was doing this. "_He's either a laid-off factory worker, or a robot_." Elliot thought to himself.

About three hours later Elliot found Warren at the stools drinking another cup of coffee, Warren looked at him and in a stern voice said, "I'm taking a 30 minute break…boss-man."

Warren then looked around the dining area, he saw almost all the girls were busy seating and serving tables, all save for Corina…Warren just shot her a stern look at her then just shook his head in disappointment.

If Elliot thought Warren's productivity with dishes, bowls, and glassware was impressive…then silverware was the true test, for it seemed that for every 7 dirty spoons, knives, or forks that came in, another twelve clean came back out.

Warren could hear Zoey and Corina arguing out in the dining area, he could help but smile a bit, "_CAT FIGHT, CAT FIGHT, CAT FIGHT!_" was what went through his head, but then he heard Wesley break up the argument.

At the end of the day Warren got his paycheck, "_Seventeen bucks…not a bad start_." Then he decided to make his move, he took off his watch and slipped it into his pocket then said, "Oh shit, my watch…where's my watch?"

He looked at Elliot and Wesley and asked, "Elly, Wes, I afraid I lost my watch somewhere in the restaurant…if you could allow me to go back in and look for it, I promise to lock up after I leave, please?"

"Okay, you just make sure that you do lock-up." Wesley told him, handing him the key, "Oh and another thing or two, first: don't call me Elly, and two: It's a café…not a restaurant." Elliot added.

"_Tomato_-_tomoto_…same thing." Warren said to them as he went in, and came back out about ten minutes later, then reached into his pocket and said, "Oh…here it is, forgetful me, I put it in there to make sure it didn't fall into the sink on accident."

Elliot and Wesley gave out both an angry groan, then they left and went their separate way, Elliot and Wesley one way, Warren/Htarw the other.

Htarw then reached into his pocket and pulled out a funny looking computer chip and smiled at it, "If those girls think a regular Predasite is powerful, well…then they have no idea what real power is." He whispered to himself.


	11. Walter's Damnation, Htarw's New Toy

Dren, Sardon, and Tarb saw Htarw come back with a smile on his face, "What's got him so happy?" Tarb asked.

Htarw looked at the chip in he had between his thumb and index fingers, a greedy look in his eyes, "What's that General?" Sardon asked.

Htarw looked at them and said, "Something I thought Elliot would've been smart enough to destroy…something that'll help us get a better advantage point against those Mew-Mews."

The next morning Elliot went down to the lab under the café, Wesley was upstairs when he heard Elliot give a shout. "Wesley! It's gone!"

"What's gone Elliot?" Wesley called down, sounding concerned.

"The chip Wesley, the _friggin'_ _chip_!" Elliot cried.

"You don't mean the—?" Wesley started to say, Elliot cut him off and said, "What'd you think I'm talking about!"

"Oh _dammit_!" Wesley whispered to himself.

"What…what happened?" Asked a voice, Wesley turned around and saw Warren standing behind him, Warren then tried to peak around him, "Hey what's that down there?" he asked.

"Nothing…just a store-room, nothing to see." Wesley told him, Warren shrugged "Okay, okay…sheesh, who knew a guy could get PMS."

When the girls arrived Elliot told them to meet him down in the lab, there he explained what had been lost, "It's called the Metallo-Chip…a creation complements of Walter Nixon, it looks harmless—I know, but believe me girls…a few years ago I found out it's destructive qualities, and if this has fallen into the wrong hands, like the Cyniclons…if Walter's told them of it's use, we're in deep trouble."

"Uh hello? Are we going to open anytime soon?" Warren asked from upstairs, "And what are all of you doing down there, anywho?"

They came back up and Warren looked at them with a sort of disapproved look, Elliot and Wesley ignored it, but the girls saw it and felt for a brief second maybe Warren should know what a cover front this place was.

Well Warren's day went pretty much the same, but he decided to confront Corina on his own, "You know I've only been here for a day…but it appears that almost everyone does what there work around here, almost everyone hauls their share of the weight around here, almost…" he then looked down on her and said, "save for you."

"Oh, but I am." Corina told him.

"Really?" Warren asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, I'm making sure the tea is perfect." She told him.

"Rrright." Warren said with a tone of 'I don't believe you.' in his voice, "Well where I come from we have a term for someone like you, someone who gives a reason like that…and do you know what that term is?" Warren asked her, she shook are head. "The term for that person is a _parasite_, you my dear—." He then looked at the name-tag, "Corina…are a _parasite_, so I'm only going to tell you this once, and then hope you get the message, either haul your weight around here like the others, or I'll make sitting in that chair a living hell for you."

"I'm not scared of you." she told him.

"Maybe you should be, Corina…just maybe—you should." Pointed out Warren as he returned to the kitchen to catch up with dishes.

When the day ended Warren took his paycheck and said, "Thanks guys, see you tomorrow."

When he was out of there sight range he slipped out of normal walking traffic and into an alleyway, "General, we're ready with our new weapon…just give the word and we'll release it." Dren told him.

"Excellent…you've done this old warring heart proud, now we'll see how the Mews like our new friend." Htarw said to himself, "Wait until after dusk to release it, then we'll see if the girls are up to the challenge."

That night Zoey got the Predasite Alert from Mini-Mew, when she got there she realized it was a giant Alligator, "Okay…a giant gator, nothing too serious."

"Oh I wouldn't say that my dear." Taunted Htarw who appeared from behind the corner of a building to her right.

"Htarw…what do you want!" Asked Zoey angrily.

"Nothing much…just to tell you that isn't your normal animal based Predasite, just attack it…you'll see what I mean." Htarw told her.

Zoey did just that, only instead of the infusor separating from the alligator, it exploded into a shower of metallic goo. Zoey got drenched, while Htarw pulled out an umbrella to shield himself from the downpour.

"Didn't seem that tough." Zoey told Htarw.

Htarw just laughed and said, "You think it that simple to get rid of a Metallic Predasite, or a Metallosite as I like calling it, then my dear little girl you're living a dream."

As if to underscore his point Zoey then saw the metal smile pulling itself together reforming the giant alligator, she looked at Htarw…he looked back at her, he could see the fear in her eyes. Then he saw the others appear and said, "Oh Zoey…if you think my new pet's regeneration trick was impressive here's another 'shocker'."

Suddenly the alligator's scales seemed to take on a steel like appearance, some of the spines on it's back jutted out a bit more.

Htarw's eyes gave a pleased look and said, "Go teach them a lesson…Electrigator."

"Okay girls, ready to Mew-tilate this thing?" Zoey asked. They nodded.

"_This should be good_." Htarw thought to himself.

Well to make this short, no matter how many times they actually had hit it, Electrigator just kept reforming. "Same old animals, same old tricks…Electrigator, show them now what _you_ can do."

Suddenly Electrigator planted itself down, Zoey and the others could here what could only be described as an electrical humming noise coming from it's back, the next thing they knew, they were trying to dodge lightening bolts coming from its back. "Oh girls if you think that's impressive, wait until you see its most explosive attack, let'em have it…gator."

Suddenly an aurora resembling the Northern Lights formed on it's back, suddenly from that a bunch of balls of electricity started shooting from it's back, blowing up almost everything they touched.

"Okay…does anyone have any ideas on how to destroy that thing?" Zoey asked.

Htarw gave out a wicked laugh and said, "Forget it girls, face it…as long as the Infusor Core remains in-tact in that beasts body, Electrigator cannot…I repeat, can _NOT_ be unmade by any of your attacks."

"_Infusor Core huh_?" Bridgette thought to herself, Htarw then put his hand over his mouth, realizing he'd just might've given away his creatures' only weak-spot.

"Okay…I've got an idea, but it's a long shot." Bridgette whispered to them, "Corina, I'm going to need your help with this too."

"What do you and I have to do?" Corina asked, Bridgette whispered in her ear what they had to do, Corina looked at Bridgette and said, "You've _got_ to be kidding."

"Do I look like I'm kidding, it's the only way I figure we've got a shot at taking that thing down." Bridgette pointed out.

"Okay…so what's your game plan?" Zoey asked.

"Corina and I are going to go inside that thing and destroy that Infusor Core, Once that happens the Infusor and Alligator should separate." Bridgette told them.

"Corina's right Bridgette, you have to be kidding if you think we'll just let you and her just be swallowed up by that monster." Renee told her.

"I know it sounds a little crazy…but just look at what that thing can do, how long do you think we can keep on attacking it externally?" Bridgette pointed out. "If you ask me, there's no other way."

"I still don't see why I have to come with?" Corina asked. They then charged at Electrigator and when timing provided the perfect moment, leapt into its mouth and allowed it to swallow them.

"Yay, tasty Mew Mews…yum-yum, eat'em up!" Cheered Htarw.

"_Okay…now all we have to do is keep them busy long enough to find that core_." Zoey thought to herself as she, Kikki, and Renee charged out from their hiding spot.

"Okay Bridgette…besides the fact that this monsters' insides reek the scent of motor-oil, are you sure we'll find that Core in here?" Corina asked Bridgette.

"Believe me, it has to be in here somewhere…we just have to search around." Bridgette told her, just then there came a rumble from outside the creature. "Sounds like your plan is working…my question is how long can Zoey and the others hold out?" Corina asked.

Htarw watched as Zoey and the others were trying in vain to attack the creature, "_Something not right…something's out of place in this_, _it's like they're stalling for something_?" A street light then went on overhead of Htarw, then it dawned on him, "Electrigator, you had your first…now how about your 2nd course?" Htarw called out, his body language showing him to offer himself as that. Electrigator wasted no time in swallowing him up. Renee then realized, "_Oh dear god…he knows_!" She then dove in after him.

"Okay…besides the fact that it's dark as night in here, I've got another question Bridgette…how the hell are we going to get out of here?" Corina asked. Suddenly they could see a white light.

"Bet you that's where the Core is?" Bridgette told her.

They then headed towards it, when they reached the end they saw it, a metal sphere no bigger than a basketball with four holes in it, each hole shooting out a ray of light, the sphere itself twirling around the room.

"I'd have to say that's an Infusor Core if I ever saw it." Said Corina.

"It is, too bad you won't be doing anything to it." Said the familiar voice of General Htarw behind them, they turned around to find him standing right behind them. "Did you think I was going to let you two dismantle my creation so easily? Did you think I wasn't going to catch on to your plan until it was too late to do anything?" Htarw asked, Bridgette could tell by his eyes that he must've had a pretty sinister looking sneer under that helmet of his.

"Walter…this thing should never have existed, we're asking you one last time to let us help you." Pleaded Bridgette.

"I don't need your help, and I certainly don't need any help from Elliot Grant, 'trying to protect humanity' HA! A convincing cover for 'Playing God'." Htarw replied. "But there is a way you little girls can help me, and that's through _death_!"

He then set out into an out-right charge, Requiem trailing behind him. Suddenly a ribbon of purple light shot out and struck him from behind, Htarw cringed then about faced to find Renee standing behind him.

"You," Htarw growled hoarsely, "You, you, you, _YOU_!" He then looked at both sides of himself, he had a choice now…either battle the two who'd been in here the longest and were at the heart of the creature, but then they could buy Renee time to slice the Infusor Core in two and destroy Electrigator. And pretty much the same scenario in he chose to battle Renee…only this time, he saw with the second choice, a much hidden advantage. He turned and charged at Renee.

"Come on Corina…this is our chance!" Bridgette beckoned.

Meanwhile Renee and Htarw clashed, sparks flying from the blade of Requiem. "Listen to me girl and let me ask you this, why do you and I have to fight?" Htarw asked Renee.

"Because you're trying to help a bunch of aliens take over our planet." Renee answered.

Htarw shook his head, "But you forget that I use to be human, and not only that but part of the Mew Project myself…I created your weapon, and know it's full potential."

"What are you saying?" Renee asked suspiciously.

"I'm saying I could train you in how to use that dagger of yours, you've only scratched the surface of it's full power when with my help you could go deeper into that power and be unstoppable." Htarw explained.

"What's the catch?" Renee asked.

"The only catch there being is completely up to you, all you have to do is renounce your teammates and join our side." Htarw told her.

"Hmm…you drive an interesting deal General, it's tempting…but I'll have to pass." Renee told him.

Htarw's expression went from a look of vulpine triumph to one of complete let down, "You'll regret refusing my offer the first time." Then he took a fierce swing with Requiem, it missed Renee but made a cut in Electrigator's right side.

Zoey and Kikki saw the General's blade cut through, and with them themselves getting the tar knocked out of them by Electrigator's constant attacks Zoey's only thought was, "_Come on team…I don't know how much longer we can hold up out here_?"

Bridgette examined the Infusor Core's path and said, "Okay Corina…now I need you to aim your arrow at that thing as soon as it makes another pass overhead."

"You mean like this?" Corina asked.

"Yeah, now wait until you see it overhead again…then fire." Bridgette told her.

Meanwhile Renee wasn't holding up too well against Htarw, finally Htarw pinned her against one of the walls, looked into her eyes and said, "Fine, you don't want do join me right now…that's dandy, I can live with that for now, but sooner or later you'll be faced with that one difficult choice that could damn you while saving your teammates from a grave fate, and when that time comes around you'll be at my side—by _choice_!"

Renee was about to give him a smart-mouthed answer when they heard Bridgette give a shout of "CORINA NOW!"

Suddenly the faint light came flooding through the opening, "Looks like you're too late General." Renee told him.

"No-No-NO, they mustn't get it, they MUSTN'T, _MUSTN'T_!" The General cried as he charged at the opening, Renee wondered what he was so worried about.

Bridgette and Corina were the two to find out, when the Core Shell was broken by Corina's arrow, the alligator had been released from the infusor, and the infusor from the Metallo Chip. Suddenly there came a rumbling noise from all around them, Bridgette made a leap for the chip, but before she could get it something smashed her in the back of the head, she then saw General Htarw…he'd clothes-lined both Corina and her, then made a valiant jump into the air and caught the chip.

Outside Electrigator was about to finish off Zoey and Kikki when it collapsed into a small lake of metallic goo, in the center of it were Bridgette, Renee, Corina, an alligator that seemed to be all too happy to be released from its hellish imprisonment, and a very pissed off General Htarw, the chip clasped tightly in his right hand, all of those mentioned were covered with the metallic ooze. Some of it slid off though.

The girls got back together, ready to face Htarw…the General realizing his plan had back-fired (but only because he couldn't keep his mouth shut) backed away from them.

"Well General…looks like your plan collapsed on its-self, '_Mew Mew style, Mew Mew grace,'_." Zoey started.

" '_Mew Mew Power in your face!'_." Finished the others, the General let out a frustrated growl and said, "Don't think you've seen the last of my new creations, as long as I have _this_," The General then showed them he still had the Metallo Chip, "my Metallosite possibilities are _limitless_!" and with that he vanished.

Zoey then asked Elliot if these Metallosites were the destructive power the chip was capable of, he nodded and said, "That is one of its common capabilities…but it has two more which you haven't faced yet, so prepare yourselves girls…you haven't seen anything yet."

Meanwhile Htarw was in a trance talking to Deep Blue, "_Master…I know the Metallo Chip didn't exactly sound the end of the Mew Mews, but it was close…terribly, terribly close. Electrigator almost did away with two of them, I think this is only a test of my newly made Metallosites' potential…I just have to find the right creature to combine a Metal Infusor with and I believe I can find the perfect destructive force_."

"_Yes…I'll agree with you General, that there's much potential in creating these 'destructive forces' of yours. But the future Metallosites better not have the same flaw as this first one._" Deep Blue explained to him.

"_A minor draw-back, I assure you…the future Infusor Cores will be much harder to find, let alone get at_." Htarw promised.

"_You best be telling me the truth Htarw…Dren, Sardon, and Tarb have been enough of a disappointment. Dren being the king of them._" Deep Blue pointed out.


	12. The Clash takes Center Stage

The next day at the café went as smoothly as the last couple, Zoey then saw Warren on his break and wondered, "_I wonder who __Warren__ is, where he came from and all that…maybe I should ask him_."

Warren saw Zoey approaching and as if he could read her thoughts said, "Let me guess…you want to know my background, you want to know who Warren Jackson is and where'd he come from?"

Zoey looked surprised at Warren, but nodded, Warren gave a sigh and said, "Okay…I guess I have to get this out of the way sometime, can't hold back. I came from a middle-lower class family, got kicked out at the age of 14. Stayed with a few of my friends from school until I was 16, I knew how to ride a bike so I didn't stay in one area too long, got a bunch of odd jobs as I traveled."

"Wow, to be kicked out by your own family and then raise yourself on all sorts of jobs." Zoey mentioned, Warren nodded and said, "Yeah, work was murder." At the mention of 'murder' Warren laughed to himself.

"Then where do you live now? An apartment?" Zoey asked.

Warren sighed and said, "Actually…I've been living in and out of Hotel rooms the last couple of days—." Suddenly he saw Corina getting up and heading for the bathroom, Warren then took out a paper bag and said, "Hold that thought for one moment."

Warren then took out a tube from the paper bag and a trowel, he then squirted some clear, gelatin-like liquid from the tube onto the chair Corina had been sitting at, then he used the trowel to smooth it out until it was hardly noticeable. Then he quickly returned over to Zoey and said, "there…now where were we? Oh yeah, I've been living in and out of hotels for the last few days, it's not as bad as it sounds but I'd like to sleep somewhere where I didn't have to fuss around with the heating/AC."

Warren watched as Corina sat back down, "What did you put on that seat?" Zoey asked.

"Oh just a little carried out threat, don't worry…it'll sink in as soon as she has to go to the bathroom again, or has to get up to re-fill the teapot." Warren told her, then he looked at his watch, "Oh, I better get back to work…nice talking with you—." He looked at the name-tag, "Zoey."

"_Wow that's harsh, to be growing up living on your own…my parents may not be willing to take him in, but maybe one of the other girls would_?" Zoey thought to herself.

Within two hours Zoey found out what Warren had been waiting for when Corina gave out a yell of anger, the other girls ran over to find the chair stuck to her butt. "I don't know what happened, I just wanted to use the bathroom again…then all the sudden I realize the chair won't let go."

Warren walked out, a confident smirk on his face, "Maybe the chair likes your ass so much, it can't stand to let it go." He said with a laugh.

Well Elliot and Wesley tried to pull her off but to little avail, Elliot then looked at the others and said, "Okay…Renee, Warren…you two pull from one end, Wesley and I will pull from the other. All you other girls continue serving tables, this is a café after all."

"Okay boss-man." Replied Warren as he and Renee grasped hold of the chair legs, Wesley and Elliot grabbed on to Corina's wrists and both groups pulled away from each other, within five minutes the chair finally came loose, but there was also the familiar sound of tearing fabric with it. Renee and Warren fell backwards on their butts, Elliot and Wesley fell back with Corina landing on top of them.

Suddenly Renee looked at Corina and while blushing said, "Oh dear." Warren looked and just gave a ripe barrage of muffled laughter.

"What—What's so funny?" Asked Corina angrily (try picturing one of those 'ticked off' marks on her fore-head with this as well).

"Here I'll put it into poem, '_I see __London__, I see __France__, I see Corina's underpants_!'." Warren said giggling like a madman, Corina then felt back there and wouldn't you know it, the back side of her dress had torn off and was still stuck to the chair. Corina blushed in embarrassment, looked at Wesley and Elliot and asked, "May I please be excused?"

"Sure." Wesley told her, Corina then turned…but then stopped at Warren's left side and whispered, "I know this has something to do with you, I don't know what you did or how you did it, but I do know this…I will get even!"

"_That'll be the day_." Warren thought to himself, "I have no idea what you're talking about. But you're blaming the wrong guy." He whispered back in mock sweetness.

Near the end of the day Zoey explained to the other girls what she'd learned about Warren, "Wow, poor guy." Said Bridgette.

"He must cry himself to sleep every night, or so I'd imagine." Kikki added.

"Oh come on, you guys can't be feeling _that_ sorry for him…if you ask me he got what he deserved!" Corina argued.

"Well what's the point in telling us this Zoey?" Asked Renee.

"Well I know my parents probably wouldn't let him stay at our place, so I thought that maybe one of your families could house him for a bit. Just until he could find himself somewhere else to stay." Zoey told them.

"Well don't look at me." Objected Corina.

"I'll talk to my parents about it, I'm not saying it'll be an immediate yes…but it'll be worth a shot." Bridgette told her.

"Well I have a few guest bedrooms at my place, he'd be welcome to stay with me." Renee added.

"Thanks." Zoey told them.

Meanwhile Warren/Htarw was walking the city streets, "_I have to come up with another Metallosite, but this time a large crowd has to see it…but how am I going to that? It's not like the answer is just going to appear right in front of me_."

Suddenly a large sheet of paper blew up in the wind and hit him in the face, "_BLWA—AARGH_!" He exclaimed as he got it off, he looked at it and looked at it, "_Bing-go_!" he thought to himself, he snapped his fingers and then disappeared.

The next morning Warren came in and asked, "Hey fellow co-workers, I was wondering…are any of you fans of Sting?"

"Why would you ask?" Zoey asked in response.

"Well I went for this contest and wouldn't you know it I won the grand prize, 6 backstage passes…now one is for me so question is who do I want to take with?" He then looked at them and said, "Well the concerts tomorrow night, so I'll think about it." Suddenly he was heading towards the kitchen when Corina yelled out, "WARREN WAI—!"

But it was too late, as soon as he stepped in, "Huh? ARRGH—HUUYAH, COLD!"

He stepped out, a furious look was in his eyes…he was wet, a few goose bumps appeared. He shuffled his way over to Corina, she looked nervously at him and said, "Oh yeah…about that, well yesterday I felt pretty ticked about the super-glued chair so I sort of rigged a bucket of ice-water to fall on you, no hard feelings right?"

Warren swiped away the wet clump of hair from his eyes and said, "Wrong, I told you I didn't do that…and just for that, consider yourself screwed out of getting one of these passes."

"_Oh crud_! _Good going Corina!_" She thought to herself.

The rest of the day Warren was constantly confronted by Zoey or Kikki, both of whom were trying to win over Warren's decision. Bridgette then confronted Warren. "Look, my decision is my own and I'll make tomorrow when I come for work…so you can just buzz off!" Warren yelled at her.

Bridgette looked hurt, but said, "I wasn't going to talk to you about that, it's just…yesterday Zoey told us about how you've been living in and out of hotels, and I talked to my parents, and there willing to let you come over to my place and stay, until you find a place of your own."

Warren gave her a look of 'She must want one of the passes if she was offering this?', but Bridgette said, "Now I'm not doing this so you'll give me one of the passes half-heartedly…in fact I won't be disappointed or hate you if you don't choose me, just think about that okay."

As she turned to leave Warren said, "Bridgette…I just want you to know, you're the first person in this restaurant that's been completely honest with me, I just want you to know that."

The next day Warren asked all his co-workers to gather, "I've come to my decision…it wasn't easy for me to make, but here it is…the first two passes I give out…"

Zoey and Kikki nearly crowded him, "go to Elliot and Wesley…mainly because they didn't bug me about them the whole day."

He then took out another and said, "This one also goes to someone who didn't gripe me the whole day…Renee, this one's for you doll."

Renee took the pass and said, "Oh, and if you ever call me _doll_ again, I'll kick you so hard you'll be flying westward over the next several time zones."

"Dearly noted." Responded Warren.

He then took out the last two and said, "Now these two, I was going to give to one person so he or she could bring someone else along…and that's why I chose you Zoey."

Kikki looked dumbfounded, Bridgette gave a faint smile, "Now the reason I didn't choose you two is for these reasons, Kikki…I'd have chosen you, but this concert is going to be really long and you're a little too young to stay up that late, and Bridgette…you told me you didn't care if I chose you or not."

Later that night Warren was the first to arrive (or at least he thought he was) by the backstage entrance, he showed security the pass and they let him right in. He made his way to the stage when he saw Elliot and Wesley. "Well I guess I'm not the first one here after all…shame on me." Warren said, laughing to himself.

"Pretty impressive light setup…don't you think?" Wesley asked Elliot, Elliot nodded, "Walter was a big Sting fan too…he would've killed to be here."

"_He knows Elliot…because he's closer than you think_._ And he's somewhat touched that you'd remember what he liked_." Warren thought to himself.

Renee was the next to show up just as the stadium was being filled, "Nice that you could join us do—," he stopped himself though and said, "Uh, Renee…It's nice that you could join us Renee."

"Thanks for inviting me along Warren." She told him, Warren blushed a bit…but then realized what he was doing and quickly regained his previous poise, "_WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? YOU CAN'T HAVE FEELINGS FOR HER…SHE'S THE FRIGGIN' ENEMY_!" He heard that little voice inside him yell at him.

Zoey was the last to arrive, Mark was with her…he thanked Warren for giving Zoey the two passes so she could give one to him. "Think nothing of it, I just want you two to have a good time is all." Warren told them.

Soon the concert was underway, and wouldn't you know they did have a good time, there was a point where Mark and Warren found themselves singing/whispering the lyrics to 'Every Breath You Take', Renee even asked for a slow dance during the song 'Fields of Gold' which Warren agreed to do.

During an intermission, Warren said he had to use the little boys room…but he'd be right back.

Well about 20 minutes later when Sting stepped back out onto the stage, the entire stage went dark save for an eerie blue light.

"Okay…who in the bloody hell is messing with my lights?" Sting asked irritably.

"Shut up, you old prune of an Englishman…_I'm_ running the show now, and _I'm_ calling the shots!" Echoed the voice of Htarw.

"Okay so where the hell are you?" Sting asked, but there was no answer.

"Come on…you coward, where are you hiding!" Sting asked again…trying to keep his temper leveled.

"I'm here!" Called Htarw to the left of him.

"No…I'm here!" Htarw called out, this time from the right.

Suddenly the canvas background shot a huge image of Htarw's head, "No…right here." said the giant head, Sting looked into the figures eyes and said, "What in the name of God?"

Htarw rolled his eyes into the back of his head and the giant image, along with the lights…cut out, it was dark again. Suddenly the normal lighting came on and Sting found Htarw standing right in front of him.

"Who the hell are you and what the hell do you want?" Sting asked.

"Name's Htarw…I was actually a big fan of yours, still am—but what I need is something I know you won't give up on free will alone. So it has to come down to this, don't worry…this'll only hurt a moment." Htarw told him.

Within a minute Sting fell backward, Htarw holding Sting's spirit in his right hand, and a Metal Infusor in the other. "_Everybody watchin', no good guys lookin'…good, now let's combine these two things and let's get cookin'_."

Zoey and Renee watched as the infusor formed a small metal orb around itself and Sting's spirit, then watched as a mass of metallic goo formed around the sphere, and to top it off, the good took the form of a giant metal wasp.

"Oooh, an insect-type…that's new if not interesting." Htarw said lounging against the drums. He looked over and saw Zoey and Renee watching.

Renee saw Htarw's eyes and knew what he was thinking, he was thinking: _Come on Renee…you want to save all these people from a deadly fate, all you and Zoey have to do is your little Mew Mew Transformations and come out onto stage and stop me_?

"Zoey we have to transform, we have to stop him before he has a chance to use his new toy." Renee told Zoey.

"Oh who am I kidding…nobody's going to save you people, so why don't we skip the waiting and go right into shoot to kill." He then looked up at the metal wasp and said, "Okay my metal fellow…let's play a game of human target practice."

Suddenly the metal wasp stopped hovering in its stationed spot and started swooping left and right of a fleeing crowd of people, green laser beams shot out of its stinger as it flew past.

"Ladies, Mark…I think it's time we got out of here." Elliot commented ushering them along, Htarw saw them leaving then pointed them out to the metal wasp. The wasp turned to face them and fired off two shots, one struck Mark directly in the back, while the other winged Elliot's right side.

Zoey could only watch as Mark fell forward, "MARK!" she cried out.

"Oh too bad, so sad." Htarw said with mock sweetness.

Wesley helped Elliot up and while he slung Mark's arm over his shoulder said, "You two better get out there."

Zoey and Renee went through their little transformation deal and went out on stage to face Htarw, he looked at them, "Well, well, well…aian't it two-fifths of the Mew Mew Fluff Squad."

"We're not going to let you get away with this Htarw!" Zoey told him sternly.

"Oh my dear, dear Mew Mew…if you haven't looked around, I already have." Htarw told her.

"You take on the bug-boy…Htarw's mine." Renee told Zoey.

"Are you sure you can take him on alone?" Zoey asked.

"Worth a try." Renee answered.

Zoey headed towards the giant metal wasp while Renee clashed with Htarw, Htarw leapt up and landed on the scaffolding that held the lights up, Renee jumped up after him. "You dare face me alone? Foolish girl…I cannot be defeated."

"Everyone has a chink in their armor…I've yet to discover yours." Renee told him.

Htarw then unsheathed Requiem, but suddenly it started shrinking down until it was the size of a dagger, "I think you'll find my armor, whether physical or mental is quite flawless."

Meanwhile Zoey was having some trouble defeating the Metallosite, it either dodged her attacks or exploded into that metallic goo only to reform, and those laser blasts coming from its stinger.

Renee on the other hand was having some trouble with Htarw, though his sword had now shrunken down she still had to go on the defensive…and every time she attacked Htarw parried or blocked the attack and knocked her away with a karate chop to the shoulders or a kick to the gut, "Give it up girl…and face it, I've already won this night. Tonight I conquer this stadium, tomorrow the city…and then the _world _shall be my 13th pearl…for isn't the universe all but one giant oyster? An oyster which Deep Blue and I plan on ruling, and who knows…if you become my apprentice Renee, maybe I won't have to rule it alone."

Renee gave a bitter laugh and said, "As long as there's a single breath left in my body I'll never join you!"

Htarw then vanished, only to reappear behind Renee and grab her from behind, holding his dagger version of Requiem to her throat, "You don't get it…all this time I've been going easy on you girls. You think you've _seen_ my full power? HA! You haven't _seen_ anything as of yet, you've only seen 10-15 of my full power. Think about it dear, I made your weapon, you think that little cutting ribbon attack is the only thing it can do."

Htarw held her close, Renee tried to get out of his grip…but found he had her against him pretty tightly. He continued, "Who knows my dear, if you were to join me and become my apprentice, with your beauty and my raw power we'd be unstoppable, Deep Blue may welcome you with open arms like a father would welcome back a long lost daughter. The Cyniclon would take you in a girl and transform you into a young woman, just like they did for me…I was a boy when Deep Blue took me under his watchful eye and wing, and when it was done…seven years later I return here a man."

Renee finally found the strength to push herself away from Htarw, turn around, and give him a kick to the right side of his head. Htarw lost his balance and fell off the scaffolding, but then quickly used some gymnastic-like moves to bring himself around to the other side and kick Renee in the back, forcing them both to fall off.

Meanwhile Zoey was still having trouble bringing the Metallosite down, she knew what she had to find…the Infusor Core, but she'd already destroyed this thing five times. But every time she did it just kept reforming, "_Come on where is it?_" she asked herself.

Htarw got up and said, "If I was you little girl I'd be more worried about my friends than that thing…because remember when it zapped those two humans as they tried to flee, that blast wasn't so much a laser than a sort of cybernetic venom that now flows through their veins. My guess is they only have another 35 minutes to live until that venom kills them, sad fate really…but I guess it's like the saying goes, '_it is better to have loved and lost, then to never have loved at all_'."

"_I can't listen to him, I have to clear my head of his voice…wait a minute, that's it…that's where it has to be_!" Zoey thought to herself.

Suddenly Htarw felt something grip him from behind, he turned to see Renee. "Did you miss me?" she asked with mock sweetness. Htarw pushed her away and said, "I've had enough…it's time to end this!"

Renee and Htarw then started running at each other, as soon as they were but several yards away from each other they leapt up into the air, there were two quick flashes of light, then both of them landed…as Zoey destroyed the Metallosite and found the broke the Infusor Core Renee fell to her knees, Htarw turned around and said, "You didn't even touch me."

Renee looked back at him and said, "Don't speak so soon…look at Requiem."

Htarw looked at it and saw that there was a small crack on its side, he quickly restored it to its full size and re-sheathed it. He then ran towards Zoey who was just about to catch the Metallo Chip when he beat her to the punch.

"Guess you weren't betting on Renee cracking your sword like that?" Zoey asked.

Htarw laughed and said, "Little girl, you have no idea of what I have planned…so don't try and figure it out, you might hurt yourself."

With that Htarw disappeared, Zoey helped Renee up, Sting came too, saw the both of them and said, "Okay…now will somebody please tell me what's going on!"

Zoey was worried that Mark might be dead, but she saw him walking back, she returned to her human form and hugged him, "I thought you were going to die." She said to him. "I almost did, but then I just thought about you and that's what kept me hanging on."

"_Looks like when I destroyed Htarw's Metallosite the cyber venom wore off…that's good if anything happened to Mark I'd—_." Zoey thought to herself.

Warren came rushing back, a piece of toilet paper attached to his left shoe, "Hey what's going on did I miss anything?" he asked them.

"You missed one hell of a show, but it's over now…you should've been here Warren." Renee told him, she then had the nerve to ask him, "Warren…if you need a place to stay for a bit, you're free to stay at my place until you find your own apartment."

"You know, you're the second person to offer me a place to stay…you've given me something to think about." Warren told her.

When the concert was over Warren slipped away from the crowd, "So what's next General?" Asked Dren.

"I don't know my comrade…but I'm formulating a plot to break the Mew Mews once and for all, and that's all you do need to know." Htarw told him.

Answering Review's:

Tylec Asroc: You're right…my bad, but I had a really bad case of writers block (it happens to me more often than you realize). So to you and Mr. E…I am truly sorry, I won't try to do it again.

LordTerminal: You know…it's people like you who really get me upset, I watch the 4KidsTV version and have been to other websites and have seen what they've cut out and I'm as pissed off as you are…I guarantee you the producers at 4Kids would've probably left it as it was if not for a certain Super Bowl accident (Thank you very much you FCC Blow Hards) so I know what they altered or cut out, and I'm as pissed off about it as your are…but for 'Jesus-Christ-Jumped-A-Train car-and-is-living-in-Santa Fe' sakes, don't target me…it's not _my_ damn fault! (Oh, and on pronunciation: Hit-tarr, the 'w' is silent.)


	13. Warren Moves in, Htarw's One on One Chat

The next morning Warren arrived for work, this time he was set up on clean-up duty (cleaning tables, mopping/brooming the floors, etc.). Now this type of work took him a bit longer, but he was still able to finish within two hours.

When he was on his break he decided to speak with Bridgette and tell her his decision, "uh, Bridge…Bridgette, can I talk to you?" he asked. Bridgette nodded, "Now I know you made me that offer with the guest bedroom…and last night Renee offered me pretty much the same deal, now I hate to do this…but I feel—."

"You feel you want to stay with someone nearer your own age…am I right?" Bridgette asked, Warren nodded. He then told Renee of his decision, he told her that it'd take some time for him to round up what he had brought with him, but if he could he'd be arriving by taxi-cab around dinner-time.

After his shift was done Warren went out the door thinking, "_Phase one of my plan is complete…and phase two is just around the corner_."

Early Evening a taxi-cab pulled up beside the front-gate of Renee's place, Warren stepped out, took one look, turned to the driver and said, "This can't be the place…I mean, you've got to be kidding me, right?"

The cab driver shook his head, "No buddy…I've passed this place at least three dozen times, believe me when I say this is the place. Oh, by the way…that'll be $15 pal."

Warren handed him the exact amount, the cab-driver said something under his breath and drove off. "_Okay…let's get this over with_." Warren thought to himself.

He pressed the buzzer on the front gate, Renee answered on the intercom, "Oh Warren…just a minute."

Just then the gate slowly slid open and Warren made his way for the front double-doors, when he knocked and they opened for him he took one look around the foyer and thought, "_I could get lost in here_."

"I bet you think you could get lost in here, believe me…it's a surprise to me that I haven't yet." Said Renee, who was coming downstairs to greet him. Warren took one look at her, "I think I'm in heaven." He said to himself.

"Follow me, I'll show you where you'll be staying." Renee told him, "Yes _master_." Warren replied sarcastically.

Warren's room was on the first floor and about thirty feet from the kitchen, "Now you have your own TV in here, smaller than the one in my room but it'll get you by…now these two remotes are what you'll need to operate, but my suggestion is switch over to the satellite…otherwise you'll get nothing but MA rated programming."

"That must really help pass the time when you're done working at the café." Warren commented.

"Okay…_that_ was rude." Renee said to him.

"Sorry." Warren responded.

"Now the room has it's own temperature control so you can set it to whatever you like, whatever makes you comfortable?" Renee told him.

"Just knowing someone I know…let alone like lives here is all I need to make me feel comfortable." Warren told her.

"That's cute…_really_ cute." She told him sternly.

"Again I say I'm sorry…but the truth is, I feel you're the only one I can really connect with, whether at work or personal time." Warren told her.

"Really, well thanks…I suppose." Said Renee…blushing slightly, but keeping a uniform poker face.

Warren looked at her, smirked, and said, "You're blushing."

Renee snapped back to reality and said, "No…it's just a little warm in here, so I'll leave you to set yourself up."

"Whatever you say…Renee—I don't believe I know you're last name?" Warren asked, chuckling a bit to himself, "Oh, Roberts, Renee Roberts." Renee told him. When he was sure she was gone, he then made a telepathic call to Sardon and said, "_Sardon_, _can you hear me_?"

"_Loud and clear General, what do you need?_" Sardon asked.

"_I need you to look up on your laptop for any information on a Renee Roberts…anything at all_." Htarw told him (Remember: Thanks to the Dark Assailant Gem, Htarw can disguise himself as a human…in this case, Warren), Htarw waited ten minutes for Sardon to respond back, then he heard a tap on the window, he looked to see Sardon standing right outside holding about several pieces of paper in his right hand.

"You couldn't wait until later?" Htarw asked.

"Not really…so here you go, a few pictures and a short summary." Sardon told him, handing him the papers. Htarw thumbed through them, Sardon continued. "Apparently she's a fashion model, somewhat of a Pop-culture icon…and apparently gave that up—."

"When she became a Mew Mew…yes, thank you Big S…this'll help me just fine." Htarw told him, and with that Sardon gave him a salute and disappeared.

At diner Renee and Warren sat opposite of each other, the meal wasn't really much…but it was good, "Renee…there's something I've got to ask you." Warren told her.

"Really…what?" Renee asked.

Warren continued, "I had somebody _I_ know look up your name on the internet…and he found this." Warren then handed her the several pages and she looked them over.

"My question is…how can two people get someone as beautiful as you to work at that café and degrade herself to wearing that French-Maid outfit. Because the way I see it there are two possibilities, one…you're just taking some time to reinvent your self, or two…Elliot and Wesley must have some _real_ dirt on you, a secret so fragile, that if you lost it for even a moment…you'd never be able to get it back."

Renee wanted to tell Warren about being a Mew Mew, but she knew that two things could possibly happen, one is that he wouldn't believe her, or two was that he _would_ believe her and then start flipping out about it. "I just needed some time away from the spotlight is all." She told him.

She tried to smile, but when she saw Warren's look of 'I don't believe you!', it made her feel more like telling him.

"Okay then, but I still can't see how a star like you can go from selling magazines to serving coffee at a café…wouldn't it have been easier just to endorse the café?" Warren asked.

"It's very complicated…you wouldn't understand." She told him.

"I knew you weren't telling me the truth, Elliot and Wesley do have something on you…don't they?" Warren asked.

"If you think they blackmailed me to work for them, you're wrong." Renee said sternly, Warren put his hands up in his defense and said, "Now, now…I didn't say that, I'm just saying that they got you into this mess," Warren then took a sip of his drink which was chamomile tea and said, "but what if I could show you a back door, a way back to the spotlight and all your fans?" Warren asked.

Renee looked to be thinking about it, "Well I'll leave you to your own, oh, and thanks for the meal…it was very good." Warren said as he left the table.

"You're welcome." Renee replied.

That night Renee couldn't sleep…what Warren said about a backdoor, she knew if she passed it up she'd probably be trapped working at the café for a long time, and if she accepted Warren's 'backdoor' offer, she'd be forsaking Zoey and the others. "_What should I do_?" Renee thought to herself.

Suddenly she heard a tapping at the window, she walked over to it and pulled back the curtains and there stood General Htarw himself. "Hi there doll-face, was in the neighborhood and," Htarw started to explain, then he looked at what Renee was wearing (a pair of violet pajama bottoms (pants) and a T-shirt that almost looked too small for her) and said, "wow, did I pick a good time to show up."

"Keep looking…because that's all you'll ever get to see." Renee said spitfully at him.

"_Ouch_, where's that coming from?" Htarw asked playfully.

"You know very well where my attitude's coming from!" Renee yelled at him. She then went for her Power Pendant, but Htarw teleported right in front of her and said, "Now Renee…if you think I've come here to fight, you're wrong…so don't even think about going for that pendant, you wouldn't survive 5 minutes with me and you know it."

"Then why _are _you here?" Renee asked sternly.

"Isn't it obvious? I just want to have a friendly—if not insightful chat." Htarw told her.

"A chat, about what?" Renee asked.

"How many people do you think live out there in that city? A million…maybe up to a few billion?" Htarw asked.

Renee remained silent, Htarw continued, "Well can you guess what there sole purpose in life is?"

Renee didn't answer, Htarw looked into her eyes and said, "Hey, anyone home…well I'll continue anyway, their purpose in life is to take those few exceptional people in their lifetime, and throw them on to their shoulders in support…your teammates and I (chuckles to self), we're exceptional."

"So what, the media doesn't really know we exist." Renee pointed out, Htarw shook his head in pity and said, "Oh how wrong you are, for do you not remember the Sting concert, what you should realize is that it was broadcasted globally end-to-end God Bless Direct-TV. So Billions of people saw you and your other friend fight my Metallosite and I, sad part was they probably thought it some little sideshow. But the incoherent fact still remains, they saw you and I, they know we exist…but only on the subconscious level."

"Is this getting somewhere, or do you like hearing yourself talk?" Renee asked irritably.

"Silence insolent girl and maybe I _will_, now when people find out we exist…both the Mew Mews and the Cyniclons, they'll first love you girls and hate us guys…for awhile. But then sadly…eventually, those people who support you will come to hate you _and_ us. They'll see us both as freaks of nature."

"I see…so again I ask what's your point?" Renee asked.

"What my point is, why not join me my dear…with your beauty and my power, think of what we could create?" Htarw told her, then he turned away and said, "Or…we could _DESTROY_. We could tear apart, rape, and pillage this city—heck, this entire _planet_! Until both of our sides are dead, all I'm asking is that you speed up the process and join our side."

Renee looked to be thinking it over, then she said, "Sorry…but I'm staying where I am at the moment."

Htarw gave a heavy unrelieved sigh and said, "Fine…I wish you hadn't drawn me to this decision, considering what those little Mew Mew outfits you and your friends wear do to me on the inside, but when extreme measures must be taken," Htarw then took off his helmet and Renee again saw the condemned person that laid underneath. "then they must be…I wish I could stay longer, but the night is waning and I must go with it for you humans rule the daytime, and we Cyniclon more or less rule the night." Htarw then brought her left hand into his and kissed it saying, "See you soon…my temptress." And with a laugh he disappeared.

"We won't let you get away with this!" She yelled out.

Suddenly Warren came bustling through the door wearing a grey flannel pair of pajama bottoms and a black long sleeve black pajama shirt wielding a steel baseball bat in hand yelling, "Hey, keep away from her…you slime!"

Renee looked at him, Warren then looked around and lowered the bat saying, "Sorry…I was trying to find the bathroom and I thought I heard someone else's voice coming from your room."

"It's okay…but I can take care of myself." Renee told him, Warren smiled and then looked at what she was wearing and said, "So that's what famous people wear when they go to sleep, huh, well what do ya know?"

Warren then looked at the time and said, "Well…best be getting to bed, oh and I should warn you I'm an early riser, so if you hear any loud banging or other noises, that's just me getting breakfast ready."

"Okay…good night." Renee said.

"Good night…_mistress _Roberts." Warren said with a chuckle.

Renee laughed a bit. But that night she couldn't shake what Htarw had told her, in her mind before she drifted to sleep she heard his voice, echoing within her head saying: "_How many people do you think live out there in that city? A million…maybe up to a few billion…their purpose in life is to take those few exceptional people in their lifetime, and throw them on to their shoulders in support…_ _the incoherent fact remains… they saw you and I, they know we exist…… why not join me… first love you girls and hate us guys…for awhile. But then sadly…eventually, those people who support you will come to hate you and us… why not join me my dear…with your beauty and my power, think of what we could create?_"

_Note: Do to a case of returning fan-fic writer's block, I'm going to be taking a short siesta from writing this fan-fic…though now that I'm this far, I'm going to work on a non-dubbed version for all of you who kept hassling me about it, I mean 'Jesus-Christ-jumped-a-train-car-and-is-living-in-Santa-Fe', isn't a person entitled to their own opinion or familiarity in something as simple as this!_


	14. Warren Finds Out

The next morning Renee awoke to the smell of breakfast, she turned to look at her bed side table to see the time 6:15 in the morning, and next to the clock she found a stand up tray table with breakfast already on it, there was a couple slices of toast lightly browned, a fried egg sunny side up, a small plate of hash browns, and two glasses, one filled with milk the other orange juice. On the tray was a note, Renee looked at it, it read: _'bon apatite' Warren_.

"_He made breakfast for me…hmm, that was nice of him_," Renee thought to herself, then another thought came to mind, "_wait a minute, how the hell did he get into my room without me knowing_?"

After she finished breakfast she went downstairs to find Warren lounging in a recliner in the living room, "Well good morning." He said cheerfully, "I hope you found breakfast to your liking?"

"I did, thanks." Renee answered.

"I didn't know if you'd like your fried egg sunny side up or sunny side down, so I went with my best judgment." Warren told her, getting up and going back into the kitchen.

"But how'd you get into my room without waking me up?" Renee asked.

Warren smiled and shook his head saying, "A good magician never reveals his secrets, oh, and speaking of secrets…when were you going to tell me about that mark?"

"_What_ mark?" Renee asked, worried about where this conversation was going.

"That mark on your stomach, what is it, a tattoo, a birthmark that the magazines edited out?" Warren asked her.

"You pervert, you're not supposed to look under there!" She yelled at him, then she took to tray and threw it at him.

Suddenly in one fluid motion Warren dodged the flying tray, Renee saw a black gem amulet hanging around Warren's neck and asked, "What's that?"

Warren looked at where she was pointing and said, "Oh, just a present from a friend of mine…that's all."

"Can I try it on?" Renee asked.

Warren/Htarw felt a sudden rush of terror, "No, no…it has a bit of sentimental value to me, I couldn't really be parted with it."

"Okay, okay…gee, I can take a hint." Renee answered, then turned and asked, "You know, I was thinking…how about you and I go shopping today?"

Warren then looked a little surprised, "You mean _today…today_ today!" he asked, Renee nodded.

Later that morning Warren looked a little nervous walking around the mall, Renee seemed to notice but didn't acknowledge it. "_Any minute somebody's going to try and take off this amulet, any minute now someone's going to…and when they do Renee will see who I really am and my plan will be **ruined**_!" Warren thought to himself.

"Warren, are you alright?" Renee asked.

"Yeah, I think I just need to sit down and relax is all." Warren told her.

Warren found a bench and sat down, "I've still got some shopping to do, you just sit right here until you feel okay again and we'll meet in the food court…okay?" Renee asked, Warren gave a thumbs up.

When Renee was out of sight a man in a trench coat and hat showed up, "I was wondering when you would show up." Warren acknowledged.

"Sorry General, but I'd just like to know what the next part of your plan is?" Asked the familiar voice of Sardon.

"It's simple…the next part of my plan is for Htarw and our dear Warren to be at the same place at the same time." Warren told him.

"But you're both Warren and Htarw…how are you going to pull off that trick?" Sardon asked.

"Well that's where you come in my friend, because you're in for a once in a life-time opportunity." Warren/Htarw answered.

"Yeah, and what's that?" Sardon asked.

"For one night, and one night only…you get to parade around as the General of the Cyniclon armies." Warren/Htarw told him.

"Really, I mean I've seen you when someone steals you're armor and tries to pretend to be you, do I also get to wield Requiem?" Sardon asked.

"What do you think, we need to make this look as real as possible…and if you're going to pretend to be me, you need all the bells and whistles." Warren/Htarw answered.

"I can't believe you're letting me do this, but how're you going to get me you're armor and your sword without…well, you know?" Sardon asked.

"Without Renee finding out, come back to my room window this afternoon…I'll quickly hand you the equipment." Warren told him, he then looked at the time and said, "I better get going, and you better make yourself scarce."

Warren and Renee met at the food court as agreed, Warren looked at his watch and said, "Don't you think we should get going to the café, don't want to be late for work."

"The café's closed today…Elliot and Wesley are re-stocking the supplies today." Renee told him, "I thought you knew that?"

"Oh, my bad." Warren said apologetically. "So have you thought about it?" Warren then asked.

"About what?" Renee asked, Warren then gave her a look of 'you're joking right?', "My 'Backdoor out of the café' offer?" he asked in response.

"Oh, that…well…" Renee started to answer, Warren looked at her face and asked, "You're still not so sure it's a such a great idea, huh?"

Renee nodded, Warren then said, "Believe me, I like that café to, it's a job that puts bread on the table…at least, but it doesn't put a large amount of it on the table, how long do you think it'll be before you may have to file a chapter eleven?" Warren asked.

Renee looked down to her left side, Warren/Htarw thought that question may've been pushing it…so he then took a small booklet of paper out and placed it in front of her, "What's this?" Renee asked.

"_What's this_, oy-vay…are you that far gone, it's a contract…I went to a modeling agency and they said they've seen your past work and think you've still got a chance, they want you to come down and see them with your manager and talk over the deal before you sign."

"You found me a manager, but how—who?" Renee asked, surprised that Warren was able to act so quickly.

"Oh believe me, he jumped at the opportunity…and he drove a pretty hard deal with the agency to get you that contract." Warren told her. "So what do you say now?" Warren asked.

"Give me a few days to think about it, I mean it's great that you went out of your way to do this…but I still need to think about it." She told him.

"I understand, it's a bit much to take in…but here's their card, be free to talk with them when you find the time." Warren told her.

Warren handed her the card and said, "Well I'm tired of sticking around here, how about you and I get back home."

Back at Renee's place Warren made the hand-off to Sardon just as he said he would, "There…you got it?" Warren/Htarw asked.

"It's a bit heavy all together, are you sure this'll work?" Sardon asked with a groan.

"It has to work, it _has_ to." Htarw told him.

"Okay, if you insist." Sardon said.

Warren then closed the window and disappeared into thin air for a second only to reappear with a sketch pad in hand, "_Haven't seen this in a long while_." He thought to himself, he then felt sort of hungry…and dinner was still an hour and a half away, "_Guess a little snack wouldn't hurt_." He left the sketch book on the bed and left for the kitchen.

Renee wanted to talk to Warren about the contract again when she noticed he wasn't in his room, that's when she noticed the sketch book. "_Hmm_…_a sketch book, maybe this'll give me more insight into Warren Jackson_?" she thought to herself. She picked it up and looked at the cover, then she thought, "_No, this is his stuff…I just can't, it'd be like catching him with his pants down_!" Renee place it back on the bed and was about to leave when she looked back at it and thought, "_Well…maybe just a peek wouldn't hurt_?"

Renee sat down on his bed and picked it up and open to cover, her face then took a look of disgust, there were a few photos of a naked girl taped on to the page. Renee thought, "_He's a pervert…kick him out now before he makes you do this too_!" but then she looked at the photos more closely, a front view, a back view, and two side shots. "_Wait…these are sort of like profiling shots_, _but why would he need her to be nude to do this_?" she asked herself, she flipped over the page and got her answer, on the other page was a sketch of the same girl, only this time she was drawn wearing clothes that seemed to hug to the contour of her body, Renee found four sketches total of the girl before she came to another page of profiling shots and another four sketches of another girl.

"Like what you see?" asked a stern voice, Renee looked up and saw Warren looking at her. She closed the book and placed it back down on the bed, Warren picked it up and looked at it, "So what did you think?" he asked.

"Well they're good, you're pretty talented…at first I thought you were a pervert, but when I saw the sketches…I realized—." Renee started, but Warren interrupted and said, "I was just trying to get their figure right."

He then looked at it and said, "I wouldn't ask any girl I'd met to do this until they felt they were comfortable with me being around them and are relationship was sturdy enough to where they'd do this for me with their consent."

"You know sometimes I thought you were a bit of a pervert." Renee told him.

"Well I'm mostly not…but don't be so quick to judge me next time…I just might surprise you." Warren told her. He then said, "It's a clear night…stars are out, and look a half moon, I think I'll go out for a bike ride…I'll probably go out to eat and try to be back before 8." Warren told her.

Renee saw Warren take off on his bike, as soon as he disappeared out of sight Mini-Mew appeared in front of her and said, "METALLOSITE ALERT, METALLOSITE ALERT, THE OTHERS NEED YOUR HELP!"

Renee went through the whole costume change thing and exited via the window and started heading towards the city.

Meanwhile Warren/Htarw was pedaling on his bike looking at his surroundings, "_I know this is going to work, sure Sardon may not be fully acclimated to my armor yet…but if this works out as I've envisioned Renee's confidence in me will be improbable to break_." He thought to himself. He then saw the flashes of a few explosions and people running away from them, "_There we are_." he thought.

The creature the Mews had to fight this time was a metallic cobra about 17 stories tall in length, and had pretty much the same electrical attacks as Electrogator had had, Bridgette had deduced that the Infusor Core was somewhere in its head. 'Htarw' was standing next to his new creation watching it pick apart the Mews one by one. Warren watched them from around the corner of a building and looked at 'Htarw' and gave him sort of a wave, then Warren made his move and pedaled out only to stop half way between the street and look at the battle in mid-horror. The metallic cobra shot a lightning bolt out of it's fangs, it struck so close to Warren that he flew off his bike, just in time for Renee to appear and catch him, when she got him to safety Warren opened his eyes and saw her, he looked her over, then his eyes stopped at her mid-section where he saw the marking on her stomach, he looked at her with a puzzled look, "_Renee?_" he said rather confused.

Warren slowly got up, got back on his bike, looked at Renee for a few seconds, then pedaled off.

Well to cut this short (I'm sorry…but I have to save my creative juices one way or the other), the Mews defeated the Metallosite—the Infusor Core being located in its upper jaw, tucked away between the fangs. 'Htarw' (Sardon) rushed forward to catch the chip, but of course not being fully acclimated to Htarw's armor, he tripped and Zoey made the catch and save.

When Zoey and the others regrouped Renee realized what Warren had just discovered and made the dash for home, hoping to be Warren there. "_What's she in a rush for_?" Zoey thought to herself, "_Doesn't really matter, we got the Metallo Chip back…we can finally get this back to Elliot so he can put this somewhere safe_."

Renee finally got back home, she noticed the lights were off in the kitchen, she reached for the light switch. "Hello Renee." Said a voice out of the darkness, Renee turned towards the table to see a faint out-line of Warren sitting at the far end.

Renee was startled at first, "Oh—Warren, you're home…I didn't hear you come in." She told him.

"Oh _really_, well I came home a little after 7, and you know what I found? You weren't here." Warren pointed out.

"I had a few short errands to run, I'm sorry if I spooked you." Renee told him.

"Oh is that so, eh…well I want to tell you an experience I had while on my ride." Warren said clearing his voice, "While out on my bike ride I had a rare encounter with a metal cobra that seemed to big for science to allow it to exist, and if not to top it off…a bunch of girls and strange little costumes were fighting this thing."

"That does sound interesting…so what do you want for dinner?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

But Warren stuck to his resolve and said, "Then if you think that's interesting, then this next part is going to be the kicker."

Renee then realized he wasn't going to get off this case so easily, Warren continued, "One of these girls managed to save me from serious injury…and do you know what I noticed about this guardian angel with wolf-like ears and a tail, she had a mark on her stomach…the _same_ mark I saw on yours!"

"Warren I don't understa—?" She asked him.

Warren then said as he got up and in the darkness slowly approached her, "Okay…then I'll make my question short and sweet: When were you going to tell me!"

Warren then flicked on the lights and Renee saw from his facial expression that he was…in short, not happy with her.

"Warren…please try to understand—." Renee said to him, but Warren turned around and said, "Did you not think I'd find out sooner or later? Did you not think I'd be able to keep a secret like this? Tell me Renee…no, really…please tell me, because if you can't be honest with me and tell me about something like this…then how do I know that if you say yes to my 'Backdoor' idea that you won't go turn your back on me?"

Renee looked ready to cry, but she put her hand on Warren's shoulder and said, "Warren, it was better if you didn't know…if the Cyniclon had found out about you and me, they'd have probably used you as a bargaining chip against me. Plus you seemed so content with this."

Warren then looked back at her and said, "That's just it…I didn't know about this before, I mean you're risking your neck constantly in a secret war that I didn't know about until just tonight, Miss Roberts—Renee, if anything happened to you…I'd…I-I-I'd." Warren then looked like _he_ was about to cry.

"Warren, I've been doing this for awhile and I've come out intact so far." Renee told him, "But if you don't want me do to this anymore, then for your sake I'll stop."

Warren shook his head, "At that I'd be relieved…but…" he then looked into her eyes and continued, "they're your powers, they're your responsibility…you have to decide how you're going to handle them, because for you to stop using them just because I told you to…that just wouldn't be right."

"You mean you're not mad at me?" Renee asked.

"No not mad…_ticked off_ that you didn't tell me sooner, but not mad." Warren told her. "Now for dinner I sort of made a curry rice dish with a piece of steak, you wouldn't believe the price I had to pay for these, and while we eat you can explain to me about this whole super-hero thing."

Well Renee explained to Warren about the whole being a super-hero, saving the world from aliens…and when she finished she saw Warren had the same look on his face that he'd had tonight when he had discovered her secret.

"And so the other girls," Warren started, "The Mew-Mews" Renee corrected him.

"Yeah, right…Mew Mews, are the only thing standing in the way of these alien Sons-of-a-whores from exterminating us and taking over the planet?" Warren asked.

"The Cyniclons…that's correct." Renee also added.

"And your base of operations—?" Warren started to say, but Renee cut him off, "Is the café, see…you're catching on."

"And the other four girls are the other four waitresses that work there?" Warren asked.

"You hit the nail on the head there Warren." She told him.

Warren the slouched into his chair a bit and in a glum voice said, "Man, and all this time I thought Corina was just a parasitic, self absorbed, tea-drinking free-loader…when in reality she was protecting my ass, this whole _worlds'_ ass…from a 'War of the Worlds' type scenario…now I feel like a real heel for what I did to her."

"Don't think about it Warren, if you're asking me…she had it coming more-so from Zoey than from you for quite awhile." Renee told him.

"Well, just because I know this now doesn't mean I'll go easy on her…I'll get her to haul her weight at the café yet, even if I have to pull out my dirtiest tricks to do it." Warren told her.

"Well, I guess tomorrow we'll have to tell Elliot and Wesley that you know about this." Said Renee.

"Yeah, I guess so." Warren answered.

As they both left for their rooms Warren said, "You know, there is something else I should say now…you looked hot in that little Mew-Mew outfit of yours, besides the ears and tail."

"Gee thanks." Renee said sarcastically.

Later that night Warren/Htarw made mental contact with Sardon, "_Well the plan worked, Renee now trusts me a lot more than she did at first, and it's all thanks to my plan_."

"_Uh, yeah sure_…_but there's something I should tell you_." Sardon answered.

"_Let me guess, you lost the Metallo Chip to the girls…well with one door closed another opens_, _I'll get it back sooner than those fluff squad loons think_." Htarw told Sardon.


	15. Warren's Onboard, Renee's Harsh Lesson

The next day when Warren showed up for work he looked at Corina, walked over and said, "I think if you did a little bit of the work around here, you'd find that time would pass a lot faster than it would if you just sat on your buttox all day sipping tea."

"Well that's your opinion." Corina told him.

Warren shook his head and said, "If only you were a good a waitress as you are a fighter this place would be booming them."

Corina then put her cup down, "What did you say?" she asked.

Warren turned and said, "You heard me, but I'll put it in terms you can better understand…if you were as good a waitress as you are a Mew Mew this place would have a lot more customers."

Corina then stood up and said, "Could you excuse me a moment, I have to talk with Elliot."

"Certainly." Warren replied, when she was out of sight, Warren put his next dirty trick into action.

Renee was serving one of the tables when Elliot came up behind her and said, "You and I need to have a little talk."

"How could you let him know you're a Mew Mew!" Elliot demanded to know.

"I didn't tell him…he…he figured it out all on his own." Renee told him.

"And let me guess, after he figured out you were a Mew Mew, he was able to fit the other four in with it perfectly?" Wesley asked.

"Quite right Wesley," Answered Warren, who was standing behind them, "for one, I did figure it out on my own…after I saw the mark on her stomach, and two…after figuring out she was one of them, figuring that Zoey, Bridgette and the rest of this ditzy crew were tied in with this was a rather large no-brainer."

"Well considering that you now know the truth behind this place, I guess all we can ask you is to keep it a secret." Wesley told him.

"Rest assured I'll keep this secret safe." Warren responded, but there was something in Warren's eyes that Elliot didn't want to trust.

Elliot then showed Warren the lab, "Unbelievable." Was the only word Warren had for it. "So this is where the Mew Project all began?" he asked.

"Well not exactly, my father was the one to start the project, along with the help of an old friend of mine that I don't talk to anymore." Elliot told him.

"Well I guess the old saying proves true, '_The sins of the father, shall be taken out on the son_.' Or in your case _carried out by_." Warren said with a light laugh.

Zoey then came down and said, "Uh, Elliot…there's something I have to give you, so here." She then placed the Metallo Chip in his hand, she then saw Warren, who seemed to have a greedy look in his eyes when he saw the chip. "What's _he_ doing here?" Zoey asked.

"He figured out that the whole café thing was just a front for this, so he's going to be working with us from now on." Wesley told her.

"Yeah…even though we still don't trust him." Elliot added.

"Then why not test my trust by handing me the chip?" Warren asked.

"And why should we do that?" Elliot asked.

"You're the scientific brain of this operation right, so think about it smart boy…entrusting the chip to a complete stranger you've only known for a week-week and a half or so, it'd be the one move in this fight that the enemy wouldn't see coming." Warren told him.

Elliot thought about it for a moment or two, then handed Warren the chip and said, "Keep it hidden, keep it safe."

"Trust in _moi_." Said Warren as he went back upstairs.

Later that night, Zoey couldn't help but remember feeling some sort of creepy vibe coming off of Warren when she'd seen him in the lab. "_It felt almost like he was—like I was staring at—no, couldn't be_."

Meanwhile at Renee's place Warren/Htarw handed Sardon the Metallo Chip, "I can't believe you got it back." Sardon said astounded.

"Quiet…the missus is still here in the house and if she hears you it's curtains for me." Warren/Htarw warned him.

"Well what now?" Sardon asked him.

"Just hold on to it for now." Warren/Htarw told him.

"Uh, just my asking General, but Dren and I are starting to wonder if you're trying to form a relationship with this girl?" Sardon asked.

"_Warren_ is trying to form a relationship with the missus of this house, _I'm_ trying to deal a devastating blow to Elliot's little team." Warren/Htarw replied. "Now get going…time's a wasting!"

Later that night Renee was about to go to sleep when she saw a note on her bed, she picked it up, a photo of an abandoned apartment complex fell out. She looked the note over:

Dearest Renee,

It's time…meet me at this location on the west side of the city in 30 minutes, or your little boy-friend Mr. Jackson will suffer a most cruel end.

Sincerely,

You should know who by now.

"_What are they talking about_, _they don't have __Warren_." She thought to herself in protest.

Suddenly there came a crash from downstairs, "Hey, who the heck are you…don't come another step I'm warning you, YEEEAARGH!" Warren called out.

Renee came downstairs to find Warren gone and the window open, "_Now they do_."

"Are you sure she'll be here?" Sardon asked.

"Yes, now just do as I told you and I think this'll work out just nicely." Htarw told him, with that Sardon vanished.

Htarw then heard a thud from behind him and saw Renee standing right behind him, "Well, well, well…at first I thought we might've had the wrong place, but I guess not."

"Let Warren go…he doesn't have to be part in this." Renee told Htarw.

Htarw shook his head and said, "Little lady, he became part of this when he first started working at the café."

"Let him go right now…I'm warning you!" Renee growled.

_"_Demanding will get you nowhere._"_ Htarw retorted in a sing-song kind of voice.

Renee didn't hesitate one minute, but then she thought, "_He wants me to fight him…he wants me to attack him because he knows that the others aren't here to back me up_."

"What's wrong dear-heart, did you just come to realize the obvious?" Htarw asked, he looked at her facial expression and said, "Oh my, I think you did…you realized you're all alone on this one, if you fight me you won't have your little teammates to back you up…and against me, I doubt you'll last very long. But don't worry doll face, I'll make sure to send you back to Elliot in mostly one piece."

Renee went under her costume transformation and brandished her dagger in front of Htarw, Htarw unsheathed Requiem. Htarw then made the first move by grabbing Renee's wrist, "You know, I just wanted to lure you here so I could do _this_!"

Suddenly both of them were teleported to an abandoned factory, Htarw then hit a button on the one of the consoles just as Renee tried to strike him, she missed…and then all the machinery started up, the conveyor belts, the robotic arms, and the gears and giant pistons.

Htarw then took off his helmet, Renee saw those eyes of his and swore she'd seen them somewhere before, evil would be the keyword, but there was also something creepy, if not lecherous within them.

"My dear girl, why won't you take me up on my offer?" Htarw asked again.

"Simple, I already have friends…and for another, I don't join groups." Renee told him.

"My dear, you could not be more simple minded, think of the Cyniclons not as a group, but as an organization…" Htarw told her, stepping up to her right side, "an organization dedicated to setting the Earth on a much safer, if not cleaner path. And all you have to do to join this great organization and sample all its technological benefits…is renounce your pathetic teammates."

"Sorry but that's _not_ happening." Renee told him.

"Do you not remember our insightful little chat?" Htarw asked her.

"I do," Renee told him, "but I realized…" she then pointed her dagger at him, "that stooping to your level isn't the way I should face such a scenario, the only way I'm going to make it through that is by staying true to myself, and my friends."

"Then I guess, since you still won't budge like the stubborn boulder you are, you leave me no choice but to show you the error of your ways." Htarw told her before charging at her, bringing Requiem back for a slashing attack, Renee ducked under the blade and tried to strike Htarw in the back of the head, but Htarw dodged this attack and quickly elbowed Renee in the chest.

"You're not much of a challenge, you know that?" Htarw asked.

"Maybe I don't have to be to beat you!" Renee argued. She then tried to sweep kick Htarw, but Htarw jumped over it and leapt on to one of the moving conveyor belts, Renee took off after him into the darkness.

She then looked around, it was hard to see anything without any light, suddenly everything came to a grinding halt, except for the heavy breathing noise that seemed to be coming from all around her. "Forget it child, you cannot trust your eyes, and you cannot trust your ears…I could be anywhere,"

She then felt something grip her shoulder, "even right behind you."

Renee then turned around to attack, only to find nothing standing behind her, "Come out of hiding Htarw…you _coward_!"

"You're afraid…you're afraid because you don't know where I am, well then if you want your fear to diminish, here…I'll make it less creepy for you then."

Suddenly all the machinery started up again, Renee stepped back out into the main area of the factory, she saw Htarw for a second, then one of the robotic arms passed between them and he vanished right in front of her.

She looked around, then closed her eyes, "_I have to remain calm, try to block out the machinery to hear him and quicken my reaction time_."

Suddenly she could hear something, heavy breathing…Darth Vader almost in origin, coming from her left.

She then brought her dagger up and struck Requiem, Htarw looked at her with a bit of surprise, "Good…my dear, you're learning much quicker than I had first perceived."

"_Learning_! What do you mean?" Renee asked sternly.

"You mean you still don't see it? Well maybe not right now…but know I have big plans, my dear." Htarw told her, "and they involve you in a big way, just this I'll tell you…even Elliot didn't know all the undesired side affects infusing human and animal DNA would raise, not like I did…that's why I destroyed his father's precious proto-type. I wasn't trying to sabotage his father, but warn him."

"What do you mean?" Renee demanded to know, trying to attack Htarw again.

"You're holding your dagger too loosely, you could easily loose grip of it…like this!" Htarw pointed out, he then kicked her away from him, she instantly lost grip of her dagger and fell to the floor, she tried to reach for it…but Htarw beat her to the punch and picked it up, he looked it over and said, "You know, I don't know what the hell I was on when I made this."

Suddenly he gave the handle of it a simple squeeze and immediately the blade of the dagger extended to the length of a long sword blade.

"How'd you do that?" Renee asked.

"This?" Htarw asked in faux surprise, "Oh, it's just a little ability I programmed into your dagger when I made it, I call it a 'Pleasure Change', because with just a simple squeeze of the handle, I can switch it between this and it's normal dagger state as I please. Elliot didn't know that…but I did, and now that you do it's time I gave you a taste of your own medicine." Htarw then struck Renee with her dagger's own special ability, then hit her with Requiem's FINAL JUDGEMENT attack, Renee tried to stand up, her clothes looked as if they would fall apart from one more attack. "Now let me show you what these weapons can do together! Purple Dagger…Requiem…DEUS X SLASH!"

Htarw then formed a giant X of red light with both of them and sent it flying at Renee, Renee did the best she could to brace for the impact but in the end the attack was so powerful it sent her hurtling through a wall to the outside, Htarw followed the bits of tattered clothing and debris to where she laid. Htarw looked down at her and thought, "_I don't understand how something so fragile, so strong willed, can in the end turn out so insignificant…I should end her suffering right NOW_!" He dropped her dagger and brought Requiem up to deal the final blow, but then he looked back down at her and said, "_Yet, I do have a purpose for her, and finishing her off right here would just not be sporting_."

Elliot was about to head to his room for the night when he heard a tapping on the front door, "We're closed for the night…please come back tomorrow!" Said Elliot, but the tapping became louder, "I said GO HOME!" Elliot ordered, finally the tapping came to a full fledged knock. "Okay, Okay…Jesus Christ, I'm coming!"

Elliot opened the door, he looked out and was about to close the door when he looked to the ground and found the battle beaten Renee, "_OH DEAR GOD!_"

He then saw something taped to the right side of Renee's face, he took it off, it was a quarter. Elliot quickly rushed inside, Htarw reappeared from out of the shadows and said to her as she laid there, "Sorry to hit and run, doll-face…but I can't have him see me and think I've gone soft, but before I leave…I'll give you a little incentive for your effort."

Htarw then propped Renee up in his arms and give her a kiss (though it was hard to tell if it was on the cheek or lips considering he blocked the area with his hand), he then looked at her and said, "See you soon…dear heart." He then heard Elliot coming back so his carefully set her back down and disappeared into the night, it was 10 minutes later that the ambulance arrived to take her to the hospital.


	16. At the Hospital, Renee's Decision

Zoey awoke the next morning to a bright sunrise, but what had really stirred her from her sleep was the ringing of the telephone downstairs, She heard her mother answer it, then she heard her say "Zoey…it's for you."

"Ask whose calling." Zoey yelled down.

"He says his name is Wesley and he needs to speak with you right away." Her mother replied.

"Can you take a message?" Zoey asked.

When she came down for breakfast her mom handed her a piece of paper that read, 'Meet me at RM. 407 at the hospital…and come quickly, I'll give you an excuse from school.'

"_Why would Wesley want me to meet him at the hospital_?" Zoey thought to herself.

When she got there she saw Corina and Bridgette had also arrived, they were sitting with a rather sullen looking Warren who had bandages on his hands, "I mean I tried to keep the chip a secret, but how high is your tolerance for pain when someone's cutting into your hands with a broken piece of glass?" Warren asked them. "Warren…don't be angry at yourself, it wasn't your fault what happened." Corina told him.

"Yeah, but how can't I not blame myself for what happened…_I_ had the chip, _I_ was the one who was kidnapped, she came to rescue me and she got hurt…I can't help but feel like I was the reason! And if you ask me since I lost the chip Elliot probably thinks so too."

"What's going on?" Zoey asked, stepping towards them.

"Warren here was the victim in a kidnapping by Htarw." Bridgette told her.

"Well…what happened, why did Wesley and Elliot call us to come here?" Zoey asked.

"Go up to Room 407…you'll see why." Warren told her, "Kikki and Elliot are still up there, I wouldn't be surprised if the little primate is already crying."

Zoey went up to the room and saw why she'd been called here, in the bed laid a rather beaten Renee, Elliot was asleep in a chair to the right of the bed, Kikki was sitting on the opposite side, she looked at Zoey, "She looks so peaceful, doesn't she?" Kikki asked in a weak sobbing voice.

"You're here…thanks," Said a voice behind her, Zoey turned around and saw Wesley standing behind her, "Elliot contacted me after he had called for the ambulance, I didn't want to believe Renee had been struck down but when I saw her body on that gurney last night—." He then looked away and said, "The doctor said if we'd called in another 30 minutes…it'd probably would've been too late.", Warren then entered the room and looked at Renee, he then placed her left hand in his, then looked at Zoey and asked, "What kind of monster would do this to a lady, what type of fiend would stoop to such a heinous act!"

Warren then took his hand away and squeezed against the side of the bed so hard that Warren's knuckles (if you could see them) turned white, "I promise you this Renee…I'm going to find that Cyniclon Sympathizer, that excuse for the Tin Woodsman and send him back to his master in OZ piece by bloody piece, I'll make him pay for what he did to you!"

Suddenly Elliot woke up, he looked at them and said, "Htarw did this, I'm sure you all realize that."

"But how did you know Htarw did this?" Zoey asked.

Elliot held up the quarter and said, "This was taped just below her eye, Walter knew all sorts of cop movies, and he saw the Godfather movies…usually the mafia would leave something at a murder scene like a dead bird to say that the guy 'Sang like a canary'."

"So what does that quarter mean?" Corina asked, Bridgette wasn't far behind.

"It means 'Call somebody who cares.'." Elliot told them.

Suddenly a vase of flowers were delivered to the room, "These came special delivery for a Mrs. Renee Roberts." Said the delivery man.

Wesley took one look at the little tag that came with it, frowned, and then slid the vase off the table.

"What did you do that for!" Zoey demanded, "Yeah, those could've been from someone who cared about her." Corina added.

"Yeah…if 'cared about' is another way of say 'adding insult to injury', just look at the tag that came with the flowers." Wesley handed Zoey the tag, the others gathered around to see what it said, it read:

_Get well soon!_

-_Walter_

"That _CREEP_!" Zoey protested, "To think he can get away with something like this…this…_this_ is just like how you had put it Warren, _heinous_…at the most!"

"Shhh—settle down Zoey or you'll get us kicked out of the hospital." Elliot told her.

Warren then looked at Renee and said, "You girls should go home and put this behind you…Elliot, Wesley, and I will stay here and keep an eye on Renee…we'll call you if anything happens."

As they were leaving Zoey looked at the hospital, "_Sleep safe Renee…come back soon_."

Later that evening Renee finally woke up, Warren saw this and quickly yelled, "ELLIOT—WESLEY, COME HERE QUICK!"

Renee tried to sit up, but her lower back felt like it was on fire, Warren helped her back down and said, "Easy…easy, you had one rough night last night. To us you're lucky to be alive."

She then saw Elliot and Wesley entered and said, "It's good to see you here."

"I never really liked hospitals when I was a kid." Elliot mentioned.

"Warren here refused to leave your side while you were out." Wesley told her.

"Thanks Warren." Said Renee.

"Hey, I'm just looking out for you…so think nothing of it." Warren replied.

Renee then looked at Wesley and Elliot, "Can you two leave the room…I want to talk to Warren alone."

"Okay, Warren…come and get us and we'll take over your shift." Wesley told Warren.

When they left Renee turned to face Warren and said, "Warren…I had a pretty strange dream while I was 'out of it' as you would put."

"Really, tell me more." Warren beckoned her.

"Well, in my dream you were sort of this action hero—." Renee told him.

"And let me guess, you the lady in distress?" Warren asked.

"Pretty much so, yeah…" Renee agreed, "I'd been kidnapped by at least several guys in leather jackets and black ski masks, then I saw you kick down the door, take care of the bad guys and rescue me."

"I'm going to assume there was a passionate kiss somewhere in this dream?" Warren asked.

"Near the end before I woke up, but that's where it also got a little…well maybe I should tell you, after the kiss I heard something hit the floor…I looked down and by your side was a part of your face, sort of like a porcelain-like mask material, then I looked at the part the mask has fallen off of and I saw…I saw, well unlike me you haven't seen what Htarw looks like behind the helm, but that's what I saw. Then I woke up and was here in this hospital room."

Warren/Htarw then felt his spine freeze, he then stood up but before leaving he heard Renee say, "Warren…about that contract, I'll sign it tomorrow after you come back from work."

"Okay…you just get your rest." Warren told her, "_SCORE_!" Htarw thought to himself. But still it disturbed him that her dream felt to him like a warning, as if her dreams were trying to warn her of him.

"_Doesn't matter…even if she does figure it out, after she signs that contract…she'll be mine, no matter what_." Htarw thought to himself.


	17. Out of Their League, Kikki Finds Out

The next day Warren arrived for work, he came up to Elliot and Wesley and said, "Guys…I just need to tell you something, I found another job…it pays a bit more than this one, but I want you to know I won't tell anyone what's going on here…scouts' honor." Then he saw they were working on something, "Hey…what's that?" Warren asked.

"It's sort of a tracer, a tracking device…we think Htarw may have a base of operations somewhere around the city, we just stick this on him and find out where he goes after every confrontation." Wesley told him.

"Oh, and good luck with the new job." Elliot added.

"Yeah, you two won't be hearing from me anymore…for awhile anyway." Warren replied back.

"Good to find that he's getting out of our hair once and for all." Elliot told Wesley.

Warren then went down to the lab and thought to himself, "_They have no idea what I have in store for them…and frankly I couldn't expect less, they think that their team is so indestructible, well…thankfully the General's going to show them how vulnerable they are_."

When he came back up he went to work and when he left he looked at the girls and said, "Well, it was nice knowing you bunch…it's been a slice."

When Warren got back to Renee's place he saw the contract was out and a pen as well, "You already signed it, Oh…that's capital, now all I have to do is sign on this line here, and it's all legal. Then tomorrow we go over to the modeling agency and then _bassa-boom_! Renee Roberts makes a star-studded return!" Warren said signing his name on the contract.

"Wait…that's where my Manager's name goes." Renee warned him.

"I know that…who else do you think would be more suitable for the job?" Warren asked.

"Wait…you mean?" Renee asked, Warren nodded.

"But you don't have the business training for—!" Renee argued.

"Business training, HA! Reading contracts, business deals, setting up transportation and making an appointment book, does that sound like that needs much business training to you?" Warren asked brashly. "I even called up the agency and told them of your little accident, they said they'd give you 3 weeks to recover."

"Thank you." Said Renee.

Warren blushed a bit and said, "I was only looking out for you, and don't worry about the café…I have a letter of resignation ready for you right here." He then took an envelope out of his left side pants pocket and handed it to her, "All you have to do is give me the word and I'll send it out."

"You really plan ahead don't you?" Renee asked.

"When making plans this big for the future, you have to stay one step ahead of the game." Warren told her.

Later that night after dinner Warren took out the trash, he then saw a little cockroach scuttling across the ground away from the trash can, he picked it up and looked at it, "_Now here's not a bad idea…hope the Mews are up for one more fight, because tomorrow morning everything they know will change._"

The cockroach then disappeared in Warren/Htarw's hand.

"_Dren, Tarb…can you hear me?_" Htarw asked mentally.

"_Loud and clear_." Replied Dren.

"_I suppose you got the little gift I sent you_?" Htarw asked.

"_Let me guess, Metallosite time?_" Dren asked in response.

"_Oh, I'm planning something much bigger than that, or I wouldn't be including our own little florist…it's not only Metallosite time, it's time I show those little Mew Mews what the Metallo Chip can really do_."

"_What type of Plant Predasite did you have in mind_?" Tarb asked.

"_Have any that can stun its victims_?" Htarw asked.

"_Well I was saving one of those for later, but then again that's why you're in command_." Said Tarb.

"_Yes, and don't you forget it_." Warned Htarw.

"Hello…Warren, are you in there?" Asked a voice from in front of him.

He snapped back to reality to see Renee standing right before him, snapping her fingers in front of his face.

"Oh, yeah…sorry, I guess I sort of zoned out." Warren told her.

"Looked like you were more in a trance." Renee pointed out.

"Well, I wasn't." Warren argued.

"Okay, okay…I didn't mean to offend," Renee apologized, then she continued, "anyway…I looked at that letter of resignation you wrote for me, it's okay…but it seems just a little too straight forward to me…you don't mind if I make some changes, do you?"

"No, no, no, not at all…after all I want your soon to be old co-workers to know it was you who sent that letter." Warren told her.

Suddenly Mini-Mew appeared and started saying, "PREDASITE ALERT, PREDASITE ALERT!"

Renee was about to transform when Warren stopped grabbed the hand the pendant was in and said, "Renee, NO…it's too dangerous for you at the moment. I can't…no, I _won't_ let you endanger your life!"

"Warren please." Renee complained.

"No—no, no, no…You've barely even recovered from your plight with Htarw, I'm not going to let you go out there and hurt yourself worse…please Renee, all I am asking is that this one time, you let the others handle this." Warren pleaded.

Renee looked ready to argue her way out of this, but then she looked into Warren's eyes and said, "Okay Warren…you win this time, are you going to come in?"

"Yeah." Warren responded.

Once back in his room Warren turned on the radio, he wanted to make Renee believe he was still in his room, "_It's SHOWTIME_!" Warren/Htarw thought to himself as he slipped the Dark Assailant Gem off from around his neck, he then exited via the window and teleported into the city. "_Now…where could those half-wit low lifes I know be_?"

He then saw a bunch of colorful flashes of light appeared from his right, "_If that's not them…then I don't know what is_."

And indeed it was, now if you thought a normal cockroach was bad news…try one metal composed one the size of an tour bus that, with the use of one of it's legs, could but right down into the sewer and bring that water and filth up and spray it at you, then you have what looks like a giant tulip, only it's pollen has the effect to paralyze its victims. Put those together and you have a Predasite/Metallosite duo for which there seems little escape from.

Dren and Tarb were watching from the top of a building as the Mew Mews were getting the tar beat out of them by these creatures, "I hope the General shows up soon, I mean it's fun watching these girls getting beat by a sludge spewing metal insect and a giant tulip, but honestly Dren…seeing your hag getting her fanny kicked is getting real old, real fast."

"Then I suppose we should skip right to the 'Piece of Resistance' then, should we?" Asked Htarw from behind them.

"I guess so…but I don't understand why you made us make two Predasites?" Tarb asked.

"Simple…because Flora and Funna work so well _together_." Htarw told them.

"Huh?" Tarb asked puzzled.

"What are you getting at?" Dren asked as well.

"Just watch…and I'll show you." Htarw told them.

He then looked down at the metal cockroach and then made sure the Mews could see him, then in a clear commanding voice he shouted, "**METALLOSITE**_…**METAL FUSION**_!"

"_Metal Fusion…what's that_?" Bridgette thought to herself. "_Htarw has got to have a good reason for saying that_." Thought Zoey. "_Whatever it means sounds just as bad as those two things in front of us_." Corina thought to herself.

Just then the metal cockroach latched itself onto the tulip's stem and became a metallic mass of gelatin, the tulip slowly sinking into the mass.

"Hey, what the hell is your metal montstrosity doing to my creature!" Tarb asked, sounding rather irate.

Htarw then turned around and clutched Tarb by the throat, "Just watch and you'll see…but heed this warning, if you ever talk to me like that again I'll make you a cripple _Capite_?"

"Uh, what does 'capite' mean?" Tarb asked.

"It means 'do you understand'." Htarw told him, squeezing Tarb's throat tighter.

"Okay, I understand, I understand, I capite!" Tarb squeaked, with that Htarw let go.

Meanwhile the metallic gelatin took on a sort of greenish color, it then started to take form of the cockroach again, only this time something was sprouting out of it's back, they all watched as the mass turned into a green metallic cockroach with about half a dozen tulip buds sticking out of its back.

"My word…they merged together." Dren said with some surprise.

Htarw nodded, "A little feature I added into the chip when I—or should I say my weaker half, made it."

"Hey Htarw…what the heck did you do now?" Zoey asked.

Htarw laughed to himself and said, "What you're looking at is a merged Metallosite, a Metallosite that's fused itself to another Predasite…and if you thought its attacks were bad when separate, then wait until you get a whiff of _this_…go ahead my creation and let it rip!"

Just then the buds on the monsters' back opened up and released a cloud of green smoke, Zoey, Bridgette and Kikki were able to jump out of the way, Corina on the other hand got hit full blast. When it cleared she was lying on the ground, "God, that stuff smells like a garbage dump—wait, I can't get up…uh, Zoey, Bridgette…help, I've fallen and I can't get up."

"Well of course you can't…with both creatures now merged together, so have their attacks…so now you smell the rot, and move you cannot." Htarw told them.

"Well…your creatures power is still not going to make a difference!" Zoey shouted at him.

Htarw just watched as they defeated it again, "What you let them do that for?" Tarb shouted at him, Htarw gave him a furious look, Tarb put his hands over his mouth and in a muffled voice said, "I'll shut up, I'll shut up, I'll shut up."

Htarw then leapt down from the building and said, "I give you girls credit, for a quick second…I thought my newest creature would do you in."

"Well, I guess that's what happens when a weak General decides to let his weak creations do the work for him." Corina taunted.

"_Oh Deep Blue_, _now they've done it_." Dren thought to himself.

"_Weak_?" Htarw asked, unsheathing Requiem, "I'm sorry…and I need to know I heard right, but did you just call me, _weak_?"

"What, you have a hearing problem now too?" Corina asked with mock sweetness, "you don't fight us anymore, you stick more to plotting and subterfuge, so we can only assume you're not as powerful as you say…in other words: _weak_!"

"Weak, hmmm…let's see if I have this straight, let's look at the Mew Mews vs. General Htarw Time-Line and see who's really weak. The first time we confronted each other, I gave all of you and your fifth comrade a serious can of smack-down, then when you five tried to 'talk' some sense into me I did it again. And now the third event is I hospitalized one of your own, one who barely understands her own power. So you think my use of minions and subterfuge means I'm weak? HA, don't make me laugh…I use minions and subterfuge because you're not in my league…not by a long shot."

"Not in your _league_? HA, if you ask me you've got that backwards." Corina continued to say, Bridgette looked into Htarw's eyes, "Uh, Corina…I'd stop if I were you, I think you're making him angry."

"Oh come on Bridge…what's _he _going to do?" Asked Corina laughing to herself. She then looked in front of her and saw that Htarw had vanished, "Come on, General…don't leave just yet, don't tell me I hurt your feelings that easily?" Corina asked sounding rather amused.

"Oh I'm still here." Htarw said from behind her, Zoey and Bridgette fell backwards, Kikki just stared in amazement. Corina felt her spine freeze, her blood right now felt as if it would form ice crystals. "Oh what's wrong little birdie, didn't think I could move that fast? If you'd hadn't spent so much of your precious time taunting me, you'd have seen me teleport."

Htarw then heard Corina whimpering with fear, it was a sound he knew and enjoyed all too well and much. He then ran his index fingers and made sort of small circle motions on the sides of her neck and said, "Oh, now you're afraid of me…what, no more taunting left in you my pretty?" Htarw asked, Corina continued to whimper thinking, "_God please let this torture end_."

Zoey and the others felt literally helpless, it was like all time was standing still.

"You know Dren told me you have a pet, a dog if I'm correct, he turned it into a Predasite…you didn't want Zoey to hurt it, but in the end I guess you have to understand, you always have to hurt the one you love, if you wish to save the World that is." Htarw then chuckled to himself, "But one of the rules in being a hero…especially a _super_-hero, is never get attached to anyone, even a pet…because one night when you're asleep I may just be in the area and drop by your house. Then once I do that, and I know how clichéd this next line is, but hell I'll say it anyway, 'I'll get you my pretty…and your little dog too!'."

"If you even lay a hand on Mickey, I'll—!" Corina started to protest, turning around to face Htarw, but just then the General delivered a powerful kick to her right side, a kick that sent her flying about one block.

That was the opener the other girls needed, Bridgette attacked with another 'Deep Sea Surge' attack, only this time instead of blocking it and repelling it with 'Crimson Tide'…Htarw just let it strike him head on. When the attack subsided Bridgette saw the attack hadn't even _phased_ him. He just stood there, he then looked at his blade and re-sheathed it saying, "You know, why should I waste my blades' awesome power on a group as unworthy as you."

He then charged forward and gave Bridgette a punch to the gut, Zoey tried to kick him in the back of the head, but he saw her and quickly vanished, leaving poor Bridgette to receive the kick.

"Oh, sorry Bridgette…I was aiming for—!" Zoey started to apologize.

"I know who you were aiming for, I didn't expect him to—ZOEY LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU!" Bridgette warned.

Suddenly Zoey turned around only to see a quick metallic flash and then came a blazing pain in her chest as she flew backwards and crashed through a convience store window. Zoey staggered back to her feet and looked at her teammates, "Mews, we have to beat him…attack him all at once and don't let up!" Zoey ordered. "Yay, finally I get to use the new tool Elliot made for me." Cheered Kikki happily, Htarw then saw she had attached one of those power amplifier devices to her tambourine.

"Bring it on girls." Htarw beckoned them, he then saw a 'Deep Sea Surge', 'Tambourine Trench', and 'Strawberry Bell Full Power' attacks heading for him all at once. He didn't even budge an inch as the attacks struck him, Zoey saw all the smoke she thought they might have done it and beaten him. But suddenly all the smoke was blasted away from that area and there stood Htarw, his armor had a light coat of soot, but besides that…he was in perfect condition.

"Was that it? The best you girls had?" He asked in a soft voice.

Zoey was mortified, even a combined strike didn't register any damage.

"This is it, you girls all attacked me at once, one of you even gave her attack power a tiny boost to assure the greatest amount of hurt was laid…but in the end, even that little boost wasn't enough…" Htarw then let the thrall of his own anger register into power and with one mighty swipe blew the Mews on their butts. "Now do you see what you're messing with, you're messing with perfection…you're messing with everything Elliot only wishes he could've created, you're messing with—!"

Just then Htarw felt a blaze of pain in his right arm, he looked and saw a cut had formed on it, it wasn't bleeding much. He then looked behind himself and saw Corina standing up, her bow ready to register another shot. "With someone who talks too much." She growled at him.

Htarw then looked around him and said, "You know I think I've overstayed my welcome, Ta-ta for now."

Zoey then took out the tracer Elliot had made and threw it at Htarw's back, it hooked right on to Htarw's right shoulder as he teleported.

Zoey then took out the tracking device and said, "Now we'll find out where he goes after every battle."

"Let me track him down Zoey?" Asked Kikki.

"Kikki…I don't know." Bridgette started to say.

"Listen, with my acrobatic skills and small size I'd be pretty hard for him to see. I'm the safest chance we've got." Kikki told them.

"Let her go Zoey, she's right…with her acrobatic and balancing skills she would stand a chance of following him." Corina noted.

"Well…okay, just be careful though, and tell us anything you found out when you come back." Zoey told her, and with a quick salute Kikki took off with the tracking device in hand.

About half an hour later she found where the signal had lead her too, "_Renee's house…and it's coming from inside, what the heck is he doing here? unless he's back to finish Renee off_!" Kikki thought to herself.

She found that the signal was coming from the first floor of the place, east side of the mansion. She looked and there he was, with several cotton balls and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide.

She watched as he treated his wound, then put a white t-shirt on, "_But Renee wouldn't let Htarw stay over at her place_." She reminded herself.

Suddenly she saw Htarw place a black stone amulet around his neck, and the next moment, there stood not Htarw…but Warren.

"_Htarw's Warren_…_I've got to warn the others_." She thought to herself.

Suddenly Warren looked at the window as if he'd heard something, he opened it and asked, "Who's there?"

The hooting of an owl answered his question, Warren gave one more good scanning then closed it behind him.

With a sigh of relief Kikki came out of her hiding spot and made her way for the front gate, she was about to go over when she felt something grip her right shoulder, she was then turned around to face Warren, who had a devious smirk on his face, "Where do you think you're going?" he asked in a grave tone of voice.

"KIKKI…MEW—YEEEEEEEK!" She cried out.

Renee was trying to get some rest when she heard on knock on her room door, she opened it to find Warren looking as if the devil was after him, "Renee…friend—hurt…call 911!" he said.

"Whoa Warren…settle down, now tell me that again, only go slowly." Renee told him.

Warren took a deep breath and said, "Kikki stopped by to tell you that the others were able to defeat the Predasite, then just as she was leaving something came out of the shadows and attacked her, I don't know what it was…but it might've been that General Htarw guy, anyway when I got out there he was gone but she was pretty banged up, I'd call for an ambulance if I were you."

When the ambulance arrived Warren watched them carry Kikki out on a gurney, he then turned away humming 'Another One Bites The Dust'.


	18. The General's Plan Comes into Focus

Zoey looked at her comrade lying in hospital bed and thought, "_How is he targeting us…does he know who we are_?"

"Second one in the last two days," Said the voice of Wesley who was standing next to her, "he's clipping us left and right."

Elliot was talking with one of the doctors, "Well Mr. Grant I'm glad you care about one of your friends this much," the doctor said folding back a few pages on his clip-board, "but I'm afraid the information you're asking for is strict doctor-paitent confidentiality."

"All I'm asking do know is where she was injured." Elliot argued.

The doctor just left, one of the nurses came up to him and said, "He won't tell you…but I'll tell you that the main focus of the attack appeared to be her jaw, it was broken in four places."

"Like an attempt to keep her silent?" Elliot mumbled to himself.

"It would appear so, she'll have to have her jaw wired shut." The nurse told him.

As they were leaving, they heard someone at the front desk say, "Ello, I'm John the Baptist…"

They all looked and saw Warren and Renee, "What are you two doing here?" Elliot asked.

"You forgot where she was attacked, I feel I have to see her." Warren told him. "You know, I'm starting to wonder if I'm a jinx to you guys."

"We don't think you're a jinx…at least, _I_ don't." Renee told him.

"Renee you go ahead, I'll catch up…I have to talk with Elliot." Warren told her.

Elliot told Wesley to take Zoey outside, he'd meet up with them, whatever Warren had to tell Elliot didn't take long…because he came out of the doors carrying an envelope.

Kikki saw Renee enter, Kikki started to right something on a dry erase board Elliot had given her as a gift. In red dry erase marker she wrote: 'RENEE…IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU.'

"It's good to see you too…but I'm afraid that the next time you see me will be the front cover of a magazine." Renee told her sadly.

Kikki erased her previous message and wrote: 'WHY?'

"Because Warren set up a modeling contract for me, in fact he's my manager so he'll make sure the contract doesn't screw me over." Renee told her.

Kikki then looked a little frightened and wrote: 'UH-HUH, AND WHILE WE ARE SPEAKING OF WARREN…I THINK THERE IS SOMETHING YOU OUGHT TO KNOW…'

"And what might _that _be?" Asked Warren who was standing in the archway of the door to the room, Kikki's expression then changed for slightly frightened to down right fearful. She then wrote: 'HAVE YOU NOTICED HE ONLY WEARS BLACK CLOTHING…I MEAN, WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?'

Warren gave an irritated grunt and said, "I'll let you know I find black a very loose and freeing color." Then looked at Renee and said, "Why don't you leave us Renee…I'll watch her for a bit."

"Okay Warren." Renee said in response.

Warren then looked down at Kikki and said, "Smart save you little runt." Then he left.

That night Zoey was doing her best to get some sleep, but the anxiety that Htarw could be waiting outside her room waiting for her to fall asleep so he could kill her was too much, in fact the thought of it was enough to make her cat ears and tail accidentally pop out, and she had a hell of a time trying to make them disappear.

Meanwhile at the hospital Kikki was trying to get to sleep, her eyes were about shut when she saw something metallic enter through her room window, it was Htarw. She then jolted awake, she noticed he didn't have his sword, but that didn't mean he still wasn't dangerous.

"So now you know my little secret, huzza for you." He said to her with sarcasm.

She wrote: 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!'

Htarw shrugged and said, "Well, guessing since you know my little secret, I thought it only fit that you now know my full plan. But first let me tell you that I would need not take the form of Renee's dear Warren," He then took out the black amulet she'd seen before, "The truth is, with this piece of magic…" he then slipped it on, but this time Warren did not stand before her, but Renee, "I could be _anywhere_…" he said in Renee's voice, then he turned into Zoey and said, "I could be _anyone_…", then Elliot, "And as long as I wear this…" the last transformation was Dren, "None of you little fluff squad sissies will get in the way of my plan." He then took off the amulet and returned to normal.

She then wrote: 'OKAY? SO WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING?'

Htarw gave her a 'I was hoping you'd ask that' kind of look and said, "Well…tomorrow Elliot and Wesley will tell your other friends that little Renee has resigned from the Café Mew to re-pursue her career as a Super-Model, in an envelope I gave Elliot he'll find a Letter of Resignation and a Xeroxed copy of her one year contract, signed both by her and her generous manager Warren Jackson."

Kikki erased what she wrote before and wrote, 'YEAH, OKAY…BUT I STILL DON'T GET WHERE THIS IS GOING.'

Htarw chuckled and said, "Give it a bit, and maybe it'll set in…now where was I? Oh yes, getting to the ingenious part of my plan…well you see each one of you Mews are but a piece of unshaped clay, a piece that Elliot and Wesley have been molding for a bit now, but now I've stolen one of those bits of clay away from them and am free to mold it into any image I see fit."

Kikki then wrote, 'I SEE WHERE YOU ARE GOING…SHE'LL NEVER JOIN YOU!'

Htarw waved his finger in front of her and said, "You don't get it…this is a simple case of 'What Renee Roberts wants…Renee Roberts gets, and right now what Renee Roberts wants is to get away from that piss end prison the Café Mew, and Warren gave her that. Pretty soon I won't doubt that Renee Roberts will desire Warren Jackson…and being the lecherous, S & M person I made Warren. When she wants Warren, it'll be a sweet, sweet victory for me." Htarw said with a noise that sounded like he was licking his lips.

'OKAY I THINK I SPEAK FOR ZOEY AND THE OTHERS WHEN I SAY 'ICK'.' Kikki wrote.

"Well you're just a little girl, what would you know about love…after all again I say you're a little runt, a silly monkey of a girl and wouldn't realize what it means to fall in love." Htarw told her.

'I KNOW THAT RIGHT NOW THAT RENEE LOVES WARREN, NOT YOU!' She wrote.

"True, true…alas, all true…but given time, maybe I won't need to wear this _mask_ anymore." He told her looking at the amulet.

'SO WHY WOULD SHE THEN JOIN THE CYNICLONS! HUH? ANSWER ME THAT!'

Htarw chuckled, "Because my dear, it's a matter of _choice_…_choice_ is what makes you human, and very soon Renee will have to make a _choice_, a very difficult one. One that will involve you and the other Mews very soon, and if she chooses right…then not only will you all walk away, but my hopes for an apprentice shall be fulfilled!"

'SO WHY TELL ME THIS NOW, ALL I HAVE TO DO IS TELL ELLIOT, WESLEY, OR THE OTHER MEWS WHAT IS GOING TO GO DOWN AND WE WILL STOP YOU.' Kikki wrote.

Htarw then got close to her face, "Because I have a deal for you, you see now that you know this, you can't tell anyone…because if you do, I can't let you live. I'll even have somebody spying on you to make sure you don't, and the moment you think it's safe to say word to one of your friends, the moment you think it's okay to let the cat out of the bag, I'll be right behind you and break more than just your jaw…and to make sure you don't _try_ to grow a brain."

Htarw then took the dry-erase board from her, and with a salute…teleported in front of her.

"_And remember…you blab, you die_." Htarw's disembodied voice told her.

Now to answer more Reviews:

To Tyler Asroc: Now that I look back, I do see that Warren is _kind _of creepy…but as you look closer, you do find that he has a heart.

To LordTerminal: Okay LT…I'm going to say this once, and then I'll hope you get the message, I'm going with what I know…I may not be going on much, but it's enough to get me by. I don't mean to insult anybody (especially any TMM fans)…I don't mean to make a mockery of this anime. But if you think you can help me or give me some well needed info. Then by all means—PLEASE DO!


	19. Resignation, Sealing the Deal

The next day Kikki was released from the hospital, and besides having to have her food put through a blender she was pretty content.

When she got to work Elliot was with the other girls, they seemed rather concerned about something.

"I can't believe she'd do something like this." Said Zoey.

"That's what Elliot and I thought, but it's true." Wesley told them.

Kikki looked and what they were staring at, sure enough…just like Htarw had said a Xeroxed copy of Renee's new contract, and the letter of resignation from Café Mew. The letter read:

Dear Co-Workers and Ex-bosses,

I write to you this letter because I feel if I were to say this to you directly you'd try to get me to reconsider, but my resolve is my own and it is final.

I won't admit that I enjoyed being a Mew-Mew, or serving customers here and having a boss who seemed so frigid in his reasons.

But I _will_ admit that though it was a pleasure being your friend, but I'm straying from why I write this…so let me get back on track. Warren Jackson, the saint that he is has offered me a chance to get back in the spotlight…and I feel as now he knows my secret he will be able to keep me safe. Though I know you may think I'm turning my back on the team, I remind you that our friendship—no matter how far apart my reborn star career takes me, will always be constant.

For now I leave you with this, Zoey…you and Mark make a cute couple, stay with it and it should work out. Corina…you're a talented ballet dancer; keep at it and who knows, the world may come to embrace you one day. Bridgette…You're possibly the smartest person Warren and I know, I'm adding in Warren's advice for you, and I quote: 'Keep up with school work, and maybe you'll get into a college that'll appreciate that wonderful mind of yours.' Unquote.

And last but not least Kikki…Warren and I both admit you're the most energetic if not 'crazy' as Warren puts it, we've ever met. Warren thinks you'd make a great entertainer one day.

These are the words of encouragement we leave you with, good luck.

Love,

Renee Roberts and Warren Jackson

Then they looked at the contract, it'd been signed both by Renee and her new manager Warren.

"Warren's her manager? _Su-SPIC-ous_." Corina commented.

"Yeah I mean Warren hasn't even gone to law school or anything like that…so how does he hope to be Renee's manager?" Bridgette asked.

"I don't know…I mean all we know about the guy is that he's been a loner since 14," Zoey told them.

"Well I for one think Warren's making a bad move, we have to convince her to come back." Elliot told them.

"_If they knew who Warren really was then we could stick it to him_." Kikki thought to herself. But then she remembered what Htarw had told her, _"I'll even have somebody spying on you to make sure you don't…_ _and the moment you think it's safe to say word to one of your friends…you blab…you die_._"_

"Well we know where she lives, tomorrow we'll go visit her and try and convince her." Said Zoey.

"Yeah I mean she said that she's still one of our friends, and to say the least I think we've befriended Warren…so who knows, maybe he'll be willing to let us see her." Bridgette added.

Meanwhile Renee and Warren were getting ready to meet with the company that Warren had gotten the contract from, Warren looked at her face, "Are you nervous?" he asked with concern.

"A little…I mean it's been awhile since I was back in the spotlight." Renee told him.

Warren smiled a bit and said, "Don't worry about it…we're just going to converse over the contract see if we have our deal straight, in other words if anyone has to take the heat, it'll be me."

"Yeah, but we are talking about _my_ future." Renee reminded him.

"You mean _our_ future…remember, I got you the contract." Warren reminded her back, sounding a bit stern.

"Yeah I know that, I'm sorry." Renee said as the limo pulled up, Warren opened the door for Renee and she got in. Then he stepped inside and closed the door behind himself and the limo drove off.

When the limo pulled up along the sidewalk Warren took one look at the building in front of him and opened the door saying, "We're here."

He helped Renee out of the limo, Renee took one look at the building, "20th floor is where we have to go, and I suggest the elevator." Warren told her.

When they got up there Warren went up to the secretary's desk and said, "A Mr. Jackson and Ms. Roberts to see Mr. Lafayette, I believe we have an appointment set up."

The secretary checked her computer for a minute then said, "Here we are…yep, now just take a seat out here, I'll tell him you're here."

About 5 minutes later a middle aged man in a grayish-black business suit came out and shook hands with Warren, "Ah, Mr. Jackson…and the young lady right nest to you must be Renee Roberts, I wasn't really expecting you to see me this soon." Mr. Lafayette told them both.

"Well two reasons guide this, one: Renee's been on a remarkable road to recovery, all that's left of her injuries are a few internal ones, minor I tell you…and two: some business men, I'm _very_ efficient."

"I can see that." Mr. Lafayette said dryly. "Here let's step inside my office and we'll see if you got the facts straight."

As they walked behind him Warren said, "Trust me sir, I've read the contract several times over…so don't think you can give me the slip."

Once in his office Warren asked, "Now as part of the contract I'm sure you remember the package deal?"

"Yes I about it quite well, we discussed this a few times already, not that I don't want to go over it again…it's just—." Mr. Lafayette started to say.

"Wait, what package deal?" Renee asked.

Warren looked at her and then said, "Mr. Lafayette…could you be so honorable as to answer her question."

"Quite," Mr. Lafayette said as he cleared his throat, "Now Miss Roberts…as I'm sure you're aware that the life of a model, especially one as young as yourself can be very rigorous and demanding, Mr. Jackson was fortunate enough the see this dilemma and help us devise a system as to make sure you don't get too stressed out, every month you'll receive a business envelope containing a few choice deals we have for you, marked as 'Package A', 'Package B' and so forth."

"So I basically get to pick what photo-shoots I want to do?" Renee asked.

"That's the idea, but the packages will also contain things like party invites and certain other things." Warren told her.

"And you two were the geniuses behind it?" She asked again.

"Well more so Mr. Jackson's idea, he just wanted to make sure you could find some time to come back here and relax." Mr. Lafayette told her.

"Yeah, I mean the last thing I'd want to see on the five o'clock news is that you got arrested for having a mental, if not emotional break down." Warren said to her.

"Gee thanks." Renee said flatly.

Warren cocked an eyebrow and asked, "Were you being sarcastic with me?"

"No…no." Renee responded. "It's just…I knew you were going out of your way to do this, but I didn't think you'd go _this_ far."

"I just want to make sure I can make this transition as painless as possible for you." Warren told her.

"Well Mr. Jackson since you read the contract over so well, I guess it'll be your job to fill Miss Roberts in on any other things she'll have questions about." Mr. Lafayette told him, Warren nodded, "I'll clue her in as things come along." Warren told him, they shook hands again and left.

"_Other_ _things_, like what?" Renee asked him.

"Well, since there've been a few uninvited guests upon your property…Mr. Lafayette thought it necessary to have security officers posted at the front gate and patrolling the outside of the house." Warren told her, Renee looked as if she didn't like the idea, Warren then said, "I remind you that that tin-woodsman Htarw unexpectedly and quite rudely invited himself into the house and your room just to talk with you, if you're asking me you're lucky that's all he wanted to do…considering situation matter, and then remember that he had me kid-napped so he could get to you. In such situations Mr. Lafayette and I have taken this as a cautionary step towards safety for both you and your manager, i.e. me."

"Makes sense." Said Renee.

And with that behind them they both went home, Warren/Htarw then looked out the window away from Renee, and with an evil smile on his face he thought, "_And so comes to pass the first event that'll break the Mews once and for all_."


	20. Warren's Defense

"_So far my plan has been going flawlessly…Renee is now away from the Mews, she has no idea that her dear __Warren__ is really me in disguise. But I know what'll happen next, her friends will try to convince her to come back…and with her Mew Mew instincts that just might happen, just might…if I didn't have the solution to that in my hand right here_." Htarw thought to himself, he was lying in his bedroom holding a vial of amber coloured liquid. "_This little trinket will null Renee's instincts, making her just a normal human girl, I mean sure it won't cancel her powers out completely…but who said I wanted to do that_."

The coming morning Warren set up the kitchen to make breakfast, as soon as he finished he slipped the amber coloured liquid into what would be Renee's drink, he then placed it out on the table. Renee came down and with a stretch yawned out "Good Morning Warren."

"Good Morning Renee…" Warren replied back, "or should I say Miss Roberts?"

"You can call me Renee silly, our line of work won't start for another week." Renee told him with a slight smile.

Warren smiled back, "Did you sleep well, you still look a little tired?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, but I had one of the strangest dreams…it involved you again," Renee told him, Warren gave a sort of sly smile at that, "No, no, no…it was nothing like that, it was more of like something out of a horror story, like the 'The Phantom of the Opera'."

"Saw the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical of it once, backgrounds and lighting were great, the actors really brought it together…if it ever comes around where we are or where your work takes you we should see it sometime." Warren commented.

"Yeah…well, you were the Phantom, and well…since you've seen it I suppose you know the part where Christine pulls off his mask?" Renee asked.

"Indeed I do." Said Warren, only his voice now sounding suspicious of where this conversation was going.

"Well I pulled it off, and well, that part of your face wasn't horribly deformed or anything like that…it was the General's face I saw under there. His hate-filled eye staring at me." Renee told him.

As soon as Warren had heard 'it was the General's face' he felt a freezing rush of terror shoot up his spine, then Warren turned around to see Renee had finished her breakfast food and drink both and smiled a bit. "Well anyway thanks for breakfast Warren…my orange juice tasted a little funny though."

Warren then looked out at the front of the house, "_Let the games begin_." He thought to himself.

Later that day Sardon stopped by outside Warren's window, Warren/Htarw told him about the dream Renee had had. "I see…and your take on this is?" Sardon asked.

"My take is these aren't dreams she's having…they're _warnings_, her Mew instincts are trying to reveal to her my true identity…if she figures that out, if that happens." Htarw started telling him.

"So what, you've figured it out first…you can put a stop to it." Sardon told him.

"Yeah, I figured that out…but I mean there are still some unseen factors in this, the most dangerous one being, grrr…I don't even want to think about it!" Htarw told Sardon.

"General trust me, I know you…you'll figure a way around it." Sardon said before disappearing.

"_Yeah, but…what if I don't like that path around it_?" Htarw thought to himself.

"_What am I saying, I've got a plan to see through…and nothing, I repeat NOTHING will stop it_." Htarw screamed on the inside.

Zoey and the others looked on from the outside of the front gate, "Well here we are." Zoey said nervously, "Here we go." Bridgette added.

They rang the buzzer at the front gate, Warren's voice came on the intercom, "Oh, it's you four…what do you want?"

"We thought we might come in for a moment and speak with Renee." Corina told him.

"Well I'll see if Miss Roberts is busy…but while I do, I'll let you in." Warren answered, and with that the gate slid open and they walked in.

As soon as they stepped through the doors Warren came downstairs and greeted them, "It's so good to see you, but I've forgotten…why are you four here again?"

"We've come to talk to Renee." Zoey told him.

"Oh—Oooo…I'm afraid Miss Roberts is busy right now and can't be disturbed," Warren told them, "but being her Manager and all I have her appointment book right here, let's see…the best with her schedule I can do you for is an 11 o'clock."

"That's okay, we can wait an hour or two." Bridgette told him.

Warren shook his head, "I think you misunderstood me, the best I can do for you is an 11 o'clock appointment _three weeks_ from now."

"Oh come on Warry, can't you at least let us see her?" Corina asked.

"Okay one, its Warren…and two, she's busy at the moment and that's quite impossible." Warren answered sharply.

"Oh come on Warren, couldn't you be just a little flexible?" Zoey asked.

"Sorry but I don't make the rules, I just enforce them…and if I say you can't see Miss Roberts at the moment, then there's no way you can see her, got that!" Warren protested.

"But we're her friends, surely she'd have time for us?" Corina asked.

"I don't care if you're the damn pope, as long as I'm here," Warren then walked up a few steps and with his arms raised formed a one-man barrier, "you not going to see Miss Roberts got that?" Warren protested again.

"Then I see we're going to do this the hard way." Zoey said, quickly Corina and Bridgette grabbed Warren and braced him against the wall closest to the door and another intercom panel, Warren then let out a saddened sigh and said, "Fine…if you girls are going to be so persistent, you leave me little choice." Warren then broke his right arm out of Bridgette's grip and hit one of the buttons on the intercom with his fist.

"What was that for?" Kikki asked. Warren looked at them all, smiled and said, "Oh, that was just a silent alarm to call Miss Roberts new security guards."

"WHAT!" Zoey yelled, sounding half-frightened at that.

"If you want to see your dear friend now, I'd suggest you get going now…security will be here any moment to escort you off the premises." Warren said with a dark smile. "You're a _real_ jerk Warren," Zoey said to him, "come on girls let's get a move on." Warren watched as the girls ran upstairs, Kikki and Zoey in one direction, Bridgette and Corina in another, about 8 security guards in blue suits appeared through the front door. "Four of you go that way, the other four that way—hurry find them, they mustn't get to Renee."

The security guards quickly charged up-stairs in pursuit, Warren walked upstairs softly singing, _"_And I think to myself, what a wonderful world…_"_

"I mean all we wanted to do is talk to Renee, and the next thing you know he releases security on us…what kind of friend do we have here?" Corina asked, not happy at all.

They turned around to see four shadows quickly charging at them, "Not a very nice one by the appearance of things." Bridgette told her as they continued to run.

As soon as they turned a corner they realized they'd reached a dead end, "Oh (_censored_)!" Corina blurted out.

Kikki and Zoey were having some better luck, so far security was behind them…but wasn't breathing down their necks. "This can not be happening, this can not be happening, this can not be _happening_!" Zoey shouted to herself. "Come on Zoey this way." Kikki ushered with a bit of a giggle.

"Kikki are you sure you know where you're going?" Zoey asked. "No but this seems the most sensible way." Kikki answered, Zoey let out an angry groan and thought to herself, "_Just my luck_."

Just then they saw a bluish blur cut out in front of them, it was one of the security guards. He lunged forward and grabbed Kikki, Zoey managed to slide past him and continue running, but soon as she got to a three way corridor Warren stepped out in front of her, "WARREN…How'd you—?" she started to ask, she been so startled by him her cat ears had popped-out again. Warren saw them and smiled a bit, "An undesired side affect of being infused with Red Data Animal DNA I suppose?" Warren asked, his left hand then reached out in an attempt to touch them, Zoey stepped back. "Oh come now Zoey…we're all friends here." Warren said warmly to her. She looked into his eyes, they looked like those of a friend, but she swore she could see something else in them, deeper…beneath the surface.

"_Zoey__ stop looking he's trying to hypnotize you_!" Zoey heard a voice shout inside her, "_But he's your friend…you shouldn't be afraid of him_." Another voice said, only it didn't sound like her.

Warren took a step forward and made another attempt at the ears, his eyes concentrated on hers, "_My power over you all…grows stronger yet_." He thought to himself, he then gave her a simple scratching behind one of the ears. "Does Miss Hanson like?" Warren asked.

"Yes." Zoey said weakly, her cat ears disappeared just as security appeared behind her. "That's good," Warren said, he then looked away from her and said, "take her."

Zoey then snapped back to reality as the security guards dragged her away from Warren, "WHA—WARREN YOU LECHEROUS TRICKSTER!" She yelled at him.

"Should've taken the appointment when I offered it to you." Warren said with mock sweetness.

"YOU CAN TAKE YOUR APPOINMENT BOOK AND GO TO HELL WITH IT!" Zoey roared at him, "That's what people keep telling me to do, but I'm still here." Warren responded. "**_RENEE_!**" Zoey cried out.

Renee was looking over some of the choices she'd been given in the first package, she'd narrowed it down between a photo-shoot in Sydney or a studio photo-shoot in New York City. "_Well __New York City__ has shopping centers, and God knows __Warren__ could probably use a new wardrobe…but the hotel we'll be staying at in Sydney isn't that far from Bondai Beach…and to say the least Warren and I could use a little color, and Warren could use a little more scenery_."

She then heard a shout, "RENEE!" She turned her head, "_Was that Zoey?_"

Warren entered and said, "So how goes the choosing?" he asked.

"Well I've narrowed it down to either Sydney or NYC…but I want you to look them over and give me your vote." Renee told him.

Warren looked at both of them, he quickly scanned them over and said, "The Sydney photo-shoot seems to intrigue me, I'd go with that one."

Renee smiled a bit, "I had a funny feeling you'd choose that one."

She then looked outside her window and saw security escorting Bridgette, Corina, Kikki, and Zoey off the grounds. Bridgette and Corina were making no attempt to struggle, Kikki seemed to be trying to sweet talk the guards into letting her see Renee, and Zoey seemed to be trying to put up the best fight. "What the—?" Renee asked herself.

Warren sighed and said, "They came here in hopes that you would come back to the café…I told them that you're mind was made up no way around it, but they were persistent on what they wanted, so much that they tried to subdue me when I got in their way…but in the end it's just like what Mick Jagger said: 'You can't always get what you want.'."

"But I'd have been willing to see them, I mean I am their friend and all." Renee told him.

"And be tricked into serving at the café again, and in your spare time fight alien creatures and possibly get seriously injured. I'm sorry…but I couldn't allow that!" Warren protested, he then turned away from her and took a few steps.

"But Warren I can't just stop being a Mew—." Renee told him harshly.

Warren then slowly turned around, his head hung low, "But Renee…" he started to say slowly looking up at her, she looked into his eyes, a tear came down both sides of his face, "I don't want to lose you, I just couldn't bear it if you got killed."

Renee then hugged Warren, "Okay Warren…if it means that much to you, fine."

Warren then wrapped his arms around Renee and said, "Thank you, bless your graceful heart."

As soon as he closed the door behind himself he smiled and softly said, "And the Oscar goes to…heh, heh, heh, heh."

Zoey and the others looked at the place they'd just been thrown out of, "What now?" Corina asked.

"I don't know…but as long as Warren's there, are chances of seeing Renee are about—." Bridgette started to say.

"about as good as a snowballs chance inside a furnace." Said Zoey.

"Well I was going to say second to none, but that does it justice too." Bridgette told them.

"_Oh Renee if only you knew who __Warren__ really was…you'd get as far away from him_." Kikki thought to herself.


End file.
